Coinbase’s stock price rises to its highest value in 2023 due to the failure of its biggest competitor

One man’s death is another man’s bread. Binance and its former director Zhao are under attack by the US government. Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the US, appears to benefit significantly from this.

The Coinbase price is rising

The value of COIN shares has increased by 281% since the beginning of 2023. In fact, it has reached the highest level in the past 18 months. One share of Coinbase is currently worth $128.27.

However, it’s important to note that the stock is still 65% below its all-time high of nearly $343 on November 12, 2021.

Competitor Binance is going through difficult times

This rise in Coinbase’s share price does not appear to be entirely due to the stock market itself. After all, not much optimistic news emerged. On the contrary, the increase is due to bad news from the largest competitor.

Binance and its founder, Changpeng Zhao, pleaded guilty to money laundering, violating US sanctions and operating an unlicensed money transfer business.

As part of the deal, Zhao resigned as CEO and Binance agreed to comply with the monitoring requirements of the US Departments of Justice and Treasury for up to five years, representing a settlement worth $4.3 billion.

Darling of Wall Street funds

What really attracts Coinbase is the fact that it is seen as a trusted partner by traditional financial companies. Coinbase has been able to work hard on its image thanks to the numerous applications of American Bitcoin and Ether spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Coinbase serves as the custodian for 13 of the 19 spot crypto ETFs currently awaiting approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

If you want to buy a share of a Bitcoin ETF, the underlying fund must buy Bitcoin from the market and store it somewhere. Most funds, such as Blackrock, entrust Coinbase with the custody of these coins.