Crypto Infrastructure Play Wall Street is looking up

According to many Wall Street analysts, Coinbase Global (NASDAQ: COIN) it is nothing more than a cryptocurrency exchange. When markets go up, Coinbase does well. When markets are down, Coinbase does poorly.

But maybe it’s not that simple. In my opinion, Coinbase is the crypto infrastructure play that Wall Street is looking for. If so, then it might be underrated.

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The term “crypto infrastructure” can mean many different things to many different people. To me, it refers to all the underlying technologies that power the crypto and blockchain ecosystem. And it is here that Coinbase continues to play an important role, developing technology, tools, and platforms for both retail and institutional investors.

A good example here is Coinbase’s launch of the Base blockchain in August 2023. Many people may not realize it, but Coinbase was the first publicly traded company to build its own blockchain.

Since then, the Base — Layer-2 scaling network Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) — it really took off. Over the past two years, Base has become the benchmark for decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens, real-world asset (RWA) tokens, and payments for artificial intelligence (AI) agents.

In addition, Coinbase launched a new “Everything Exchange” strategy in December that will greatly increase the number of assets that can be traded 24/7. That will lead to tens of thousands of trading assets on Coinbase, rather than just hundreds. And that can provide a huge boost in revenue and profits for years to come.

Example: Coinbase recently launched stock and ETF trading for US customers. And the company has recently partnered with Kalshi to offer market predictions to customers.

As further evidence of Coinbase’s crypto infrastructure ambitions, it has moved to offering Crypto-as-a-Service (CAAS) to financial institutions, enabling them to build their own digital asset offerings. The company also leaned heavily on the crypto ETF trend by being a “digital vault” for Wall Street’s crypto exchange-traded funds.

Admittedly, Coinbase stock has been underperforming. Decrease by 20% by 2026. Investors, have been alarmed by the drop in the price of cryptocurrencies Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC)apparently they have moved on to better opportunities elsewhere.

As crypto prices have fallen, some crypto infrastructure companies — including two prominent Bitcoin mining companies — have reinvented themselves in the new era of artificial intelligence and high-performance computing (HPC). In some cases, they cut their crypto operations entirely, sell their Bitcoin, and use that money to finance the expansion of AI.

Clearly, investors are willing to pay a premium for AI shares, and that has had a big impact on how they view Coinbase. But I think Coinbase is built for the long term. Now it’s more than just a cryptocurrency exchange — it’s an important crypto infrastructure provider worth keeping an eye on for investors.

Before buying stock in Coinbase Global, consider the following:

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Dominic Basulto has positions in Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool has positions and recommends Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool recommends Coinbase Global. The Motley Fool has a policy of disclosure.

Forget Tech Stocks: The Crypto Infrastructure Play Wall Street Is Overlooking was first published by The Motley Fool.