Crypto whales are rushing in where other investors fear to tread.
Bitcoin is struggling to stage a turnaround. Recent prices are stuck under the $70,000 level, and altcoins including ether and solana are in a similar state. Though the volatility in crypto markets appears to be putting off retail investors, some industry players are buying. Crypto exchange Coinbase Global (COIN), for example, said it will continue to “buy the dip” in bitcoin — and its own stock.
That optimism has yet to meaningfully register in crypto markets, but some crypto-linked stocks are climbing today. Coinbase is up 15%, while shares of the Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss-founded exchange Gemini have risen about 12%. Strategy (MSTR) and Circle (CRCL) are also climbing, though more modestly.
Some experts worry that the reprieve in crypto stocks may be short-lived. One bank is calling for more pain in the near future, citing a lack of new buyers.
“Crypto is cyclical, and experience tells us it’s never as good, or as bad as it seems,” Coinbase said in its shareholder letter on Thursday. The “undercurrent of technological change and crypto product adoption” has not been blunted by the volatility in the digital asset market, it said.
The exchange spent $1.7 billion buying back shares in the between the start of October and early February, CFO Alesia Haas said during the company’s earnings call Thursday. Coinbase has some $2.3 billion available for future transactions after the company’s board approved an increase to its existing repurchase plan.
British bank Standard Chartered yesterday cut its year-end price target on bitcoin as well as major altcoins, citing “further price downside” in the coming months. It expects bitcoin to hit a low of $50,000, suggesting downside of more than 25% from recent prices. The bank also said ethereum could fall to a low of $1,400.
“We think further capitulation is likely, rather than new buyers stepping in soon,” wrote Geoff Kendrick, the firm’s global head of digital assets research. A “resumption of ETF inflows” is needed for a recovery, he wrote.
Standard Chartered appears to think ETF buyers will show up eventually, as it expects digital asset prices to recover and hit their bullish year-end price targets. At the same time, the bank cut its 2026 forecast for bitcoin by $50,000 to $100,000, and lowered its outlook for ethereum by $3,500 to $4,000.
