Publicly traded crypto firms provide insight on where the industry is going
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A trio of publicly traded crypto firms is reporting earnings Thursday, and the analysts covering them are keen on hearing from management where the industry goes from here.
Why it matters: Easing hostility around the industry and a shakeup in the presidential election have turned stock analysts more positive about the crypto shops they cover.
Zoom in: Citi raised its rating and price target on Coinbase's stock last week, citing upside in the company's "long-standing" regulatory risk.
- Analyst Peter Christiansen said the firm changed its view following shifts in the U.S. election landscape and the Supreme Court's overturning the Chevron deference.
- "We surmise the upside opportunity from a more conducive regulatory environment to be too large to ignore," he said, adding the possibility of "unlocking sidelined institutional capital."
Meanwhile, JPMorgan's Ken Worthington raised his December 2024 price target on Coinbase on Monday to $181 (up from $171), based on the firm's "higher assumption for total crypto market cap."
- Coinbase reports after the bell Thursday.
Galaxy Digital conducted its quarterly show-and-tell this morning.
- But Benchmark analyst Mark Palmer told Axios Wednesday that he was keener on finding out what's next for Galaxy than the print.
The latest: Galaxy's been trying to uplist to the Nasdaq from the Toronto Stock Exchange for several years, but the parley between the firm and regulators finally appears to have improved — the company said this morning that it submitted its amendment to the SEC last week.
- While the quarter was a bumpy one for digital assets, Galaxy chief Michael Novogratz said this morning on the company's earnings call that he expects the uncertainty hanging over the industry to clear soon:
- "I've literally never been more bullish on Galaxy and never been more bullish on our whole industry."
For MicroStrategy, which like Coinbase reports Thursday afternoon, Benchmark's Palmer said details of how its enterprise software business performed will take a backseat to anything that has to do with how it will add to its growing bitcoin stockpile.
- He'll be keen on what MicroStrategy chairman and bitcoin whale Michael Saylor says about that.
The bottom line: Bullish expectations rest on regulatory easing.
