Coinbase (Nasdaq: COIN) is officially joining the S&P 500 on May 19, making it the first crypto-native firm to enter the index. This move triggered a 9% rally on May 16 with its shares closing at $266.46 despite facing a swirl of regulatory and cybersecurity challenges.
US stocks closed the week higher after witnessing easing U.S.-China trade tensions and a tech-led rally. The S&P 500 rose 0.7% on Friday, extending its winning streak to five days, while the Nasdaq gained 0.5% after capping a strong week with a 7% gain. Meanwhile, Bitcoin (BTC) remained marginally up over the last week.
COIN soars on S&P 500 entry
Investors rotated back into risk assets as trade war fears temporarily eased. However, Coinbase’s inclusion in the S&P 500 followed up with a 20% surge after the announcements and subsequent upgrade by analysts. This marks a major benchmark for crypto’s relationship with mainstream finance. It also shows Wall Street’s growing acceptance of digital asset linked firms.
COIN price saw a dump of more than 2% in the after-hours trading, signaling that it can drop to the $260 level when the market opens. Till then, Coinbase stock is still up by 27% in the last 5 days and 52% over the past month.
Headwinds persist as reports surfaced that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating whether Coinbase misrepresented user numbers in past disclosures. This adds to the exchange’s ongoing legal battle over whether certain tokens on its platform qualify as securities.
The US’s biggest crypto exchange had disclosed that cybercriminals recently demanded $20 million in Bitcoin in exchange for stolen customer data. Meanwhile, CEO Brian Armstrong has stated that Coinbase will not comply with the ransom demands. Despite these challenges, the exchange’s Q1 revenue rose 24% YoY, which was mainly due to increased transaction volume and subscription services.
Earlier this month, Coinbase acquired derivatives exchange Deribit. This move aligns with Coinbase’s strategy to diversify beyond spot trading. Armstrong also made headlines by suggesting crypto could be integrated into 401(k) retirement plans.
Bitcoin cools at $103K while Nvidia rallies
Big tech stocks surged this week after the US signaled a tariff rollback on China. The S&P 500 has now erased all its 2025 losses and is back in positive territory but the sentiments still remain fragile.
Nvidia (NVDA) has led the tech charge by surging 16% this week ahead of its earnings report on May 28. However, Tesla soared by 17%. Nvidia’s rally was fueled by new international deals for a major AI chip. During a White House-led delegation to the Middle East, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang revealed that they will sell 18,000+ Blackwell AI chips to Saudi-based firm Humain to power regional data centers.
NVDA recorded a drop of over 3% in after-hours sessions. This suggests that its price might drop to the $132 range. Nvidia stock price has surged by more than 33% over the last month and closed trading at $135.40 on Friday.
The announcement puts Nvidia at the center of a rapidly emerging AI hub in the Gulf, backed by Saudi Arabia’s $925 billion Public Investment Fund (PIF). AMD also confirmed it will supply chips to Humain, sending its stock up 14% for the week.
The digital asset market saw an uptick but consolidated on Saturday morning as the Bitcoin price dropped below the $103K level. Bitcoin is still up by 22% over the last week and is trading at an average of $102,911 at press time. The cumulative crypto market cap dropped by almost 2% in the last 24 hours to stand at $3.27 trillion.
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