Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs said it is taking a “selectively constructive” stance on brokers and cryptocurrency firms heading into 2026, arguing that a resilient retail trading environment and continued regulatory progress should support growth.
“We expect the battle between traditional retail brokerage and cryptocurrency trading to continue in 2026, driving increased competition that could impact market share and product pricing,” analysts led by James Yaro wrote in a report on Monday.
The bank upgraded cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN) to buy from neutral and raised its price target to $303 from $294, implying upside potential of more than 30%. Shares were up 4.3% in early trading Monday, with cryptocurrency prices rising late Sunday.
The bank downgraded eToro (ETOR) to neutral from buy and lowered its price target to $39 from $48. The stock fell 1.2% to $35.27 in premarket trading.
Yaro and team continue to have Buy ratings on Robinhood (HOOD), Interactive Brokers (IBKR), and Figure Technology (FIGR).
Yaro said Coinbase’s scale and brand strength are seen as key drivers of revenue growth and market share above peers. He expects COIN’s revenue to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12% by 2027, compared with peers’ 8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), driven by best-in-class customer acquisition costs.
Yaro and the team also highlighted recent product launches in the brokerage, banking, wealth, and tokenization spaces, saying they increase the company’s competitiveness and allow it to expand in structural growth areas such as prediction markets.
At the same time, the bank is constructive on Coinbase’s expanding subscription and services business, which now accounts for about 40% of revenue, and expects the business to grow steadily and reduce earnings volatility as cryptocurrency use cases expand beyond trading.
Analysts said of eToro’s downgrade: “While eToro continues to post healthy growth, competition in its core markets and products is increasing, potentially driving up customer acquisition costs and pricing and impacting planned U.S. expansion.”
Read more: Despite Bitcoin’s year-end shakeup, Citi remains a believer in crypto stocks
