American cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase stands to gain the most from Ethereum’s rally and the onset of altcoin season, according to analysts from research firm Bernstein, as reported by The Block.
At the time of writing, Ethereum is trading at $4288. On August 11, the coin’s price reached $4300, marking a multi-year high.
Over the past 30 days, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has risen by 17.5%, while Bitcoin has only increased by 0.7%. According to Gautam Chhugani, the market has entered a phase where altcoins are outpacing digital gold in growth rates.
“We believe that altseason has already begun (as evidenced by Ethereum’s leading growth), and Coinbase will benefit the most,” he stated.
Chhugani cited several reasons why Coinbase is set to benefit from the current market dynamics. The exchange supports over 250 different tokens, including assets from the Base ecosystem — its own L2 solution.
The network processes over 9 million transactions daily. Ethereum gas fees generate $75 million annually for Coinbase.
Ethereum staking accounts for 10% of the crypto exchange’s revenue. The rise in ETH’s price has increased this share, as well as the value of Coinbase’s treasury, which holds 136,782 ETH — approximately $570 million at current rates.
Following the release of its second-quarter report, the platform’s shares fell by 15%. However, Bernstein noted that these results should not be overestimated, as the market recovery only began in July. Against this backdrop, trading volume on Coinbase increased by 40%, and Chhugani expects further growth.
Besides Coinbase, Bernstein analysts see potential in other public companies linked to the Ethereum ecosystem. For instance, they anticipate increased trading volumes on Robinhood, which recently listed 30 new tokens and announced the launch of its own L2 solution, Robinhood Chain.
Experts also highlighted Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin operating on Ethereum. Over the past three months, the company has increased the supply of the “stablecoin” by 7%, reaching $65 billion.
Another promising area is ETFs. BlackRock plans to add a staking feature with a yield of about 2.9% to its iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA). Public firms accumulating Ethereum will also be in a favorable position. Currently, the largest holder is Bitmine, with “digital reserves” worth $4.9 billion.
On August 11, it was revealed that Coinbase’s venture arm also purchased Toncoin tokens from The Open Network (TON) project.
TON Foundation President Manuel Stotz told The Block that Coinbase Ventures purchased the tokens directly from Telegram. He did not disclose the exact amount or date of the transaction.
In the past 24 hours, Toncoin’s price has shown little movement. At the time of writing, the asset is trading at $3.4.
Earlier, on August 1, Coinbase announced the addition of tokenized stocks, prediction markets, and derivatives for U.S. clients.
