Author: Weilin, PANews
Under the crypto regulatory policy adjustments of the Trump administration, the landscape of the U.S. crypto market is undergoing important changes, and Coinbase, a leading U.S. crypto exchange, is facing a series of new developments.
From the easing of the regulatory environment to the expansion of its business, Coinbase has been very active recently. In February, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) withdrew its lawsuit against the company, marking the end of the U.S. regulators' tough enforcement phase on the crypto market. At the White House Digital Assets Summit, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong enjoyed "VIP" treatment, further demonstrating the company's lobbying influence in Washington.
At the same time, Coinbase plans to expand its U.S. workforce by about 1,000 employees by 2025 and is restarting its COIN stock tokenization plan. The market also has rumors that the company may face acquisition, becoming a potential target for traditional exchanges to acquire.
White House Summit: Coinbase CEO Enjoys "VIP" Treatment, Plans to Expand U.S. Workforce by 1,000
After Trump's re-election, the first White House Digital Assets Summit became the focus of attention in the crypto industry, and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong was undoubtedly one of the most prominent executives at the summit. As a representative of the crypto exchange, Armstrong sat in the fourth position to the left of Trump, demonstrating his influence among the summit attendees.
The day before the summit, Trump signed an executive order to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve and digital asset reserve. Armstrong later told the media that Coinbase is "absolutely" willing to serve as the government's crypto asset custodian in the context of the national reserve, and added that the company has already cooperated with multiple government departments in crypto asset custody and trading.
Coinbase's performance has also been impressive. In 2024, its annual revenue grew by more than double to $6.564 billion, with a net income of $2.6 billion. In the fourth quarter, revenue reached $2.27 billion, up 88% quarter-on-quarter.
After the White House summit, Armstrong tweeted that the White House Digital Assets Summit was a historic day, and the U.S. now has a strategic Bitcoin reserve and emerging regulatory clarity, which will directly translate into economic growth. Given this new growth, Coinbase plans to hire about 1,000 employees in the U.S. this year and will continue to build in the U.S. to ensure the country maintains a leading position in technology and finance. As of 2024, Coinbase had 3,772 employees, and this expansion is expected to further consolidate its market position.
SEC Withdraws Lawsuit Against Coinbase, Removing Biggest Regulatory Hurdle
Although Coinbase successfully went public on Nasdaq in 2021, its development has been hampered by regulatory resistance from the SEC in recent years. On March 22, 2023, Coinbase received a Wells notice from the SEC, indicating that the SEC planned to take enforcement action against Coinbase's staking products. Coinbase later responded that the investigation was "hasty" and said it would continue to operate normally. The following month, Coinbase sued the SEC, asking a federal court to compel the SEC to respond to Coinbase's petition the previous year, which had requested the SEC to clarify crypto-related regulations.
In June 2023, the SEC announced that it was suing Coinbase, alleging that it had been acting as an unregistered broker, exchange, and clearing agency since 2019, and demanded that Coinbase be "permanently enjoined" from related businesses. The SEC also accused Coinbase of failing to register its staking services as required by U.S. securities laws.
However, after the Trump administration took office, there were changes in the SEC's top management. In February 2025, the SEC withdrew the lawsuit against Coinbase, ending the legal dispute between the two parties, and removing many obstacles for Coinbase's future business development.
Coinbase Restarts COIN Stock Tokenization Plan, Adjusts Listing Mechanism
The changes in the U.S. regulatory environment have brought new market opportunities for Coinbase. On March 6, there was market news that Coinbase is pushing to tokenize its COIN stock again, as part of a broader effort to bring security tokens into the U.S. market. The company had first attempted this initiative in 2020 but abandoned it due to regulatory hurdles. With the establishment of the SEC's new Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit, the company sees new opportunities to integrate blockchain-based securities into traditional finance. Coinbase CFO Alesia Haas expressed optimism about regulatory progress at the Morgan Stanley TMT conference.
Haas said: "I now believe that our U.S. regulators are seeking product innovation and want to move forward." Haas revealed that Coinbase initially planned to list the security token representing its COIN stock, which is consistent with its vision of integrating blockchain into traditional finance. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong emphasized the potential benefits of tokenized securities, saying they can provide consumers with the ability to trade 24/7.
On March 10, according to an official announcement from Backed, the tokenized version of Coinbase stock $COIN, called $wbCOIN, has been launched on the Base network. This token is 1:1 backed by $COIN stock, can be freely transferred, and has a legal claim on the value of the $COIN stock. However, Backed stressed that it is not affiliated with Coinbase and is only interested in the stock.
At the same time, Coinbase is adjusting its token listing mechanism to adapt to the rapidly changing crypto market. CEO Brian Armstrong has proposed using a "blocklist" model, allowing users and automated scanning tools to filter out scam projects, rather than pre-approving tokens.
Armstrong said that due to the overwhelming number of new tokens - nearly a million per week - Coinbase's manual review process is no longer sustainable. "Individual evaluation is no longer feasible," he wrote, adding that even regulators cannot keep up with the growth of new assets. This mechanism is essentially similar to Twitter's "Community Notes" system, but applied to the crypto industry.
M&A Rumors: Coinbase May Become a Top Exchange Acquisition Target
In addition to business expansion and regulatory breakthroughs, Coinbase is also seen by the market as a potential acquisition target. On March 8, according to a Barrons report, Coinbase has the conditions to become an acquisition target, and if it can merge with a traditional exchange, it will be able to build a company with both professional expertise and industry influence, thereby dominating the currently fragmented cryptocurrency market. Currently, Coinbase's price-to-earnings ratio is around 22, and its total market value is around $52 billion, but the large U.S. exchanges have the ability to make this deal happen.
The parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), has a market value of $100 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 36, and its CEO Jeffrey Sprecher's wife Kelly Loeffler was a member of the Trump administration cabinet. The global futures trading giant CME Group has a market value of $93 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 26. Nasdaq is known for its technological strength and global network, with a market value of $47 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 41. If Coinbase can cooperate with the major U.S. exchanges, it will be able to open the doors to power and markets, which may still be out of reach for it currently. Major investors may drive the acquisition of Coinbase by a top exchange, and the new company will be able to maximize investment returns as crypto transitions from the financial frontier to the mainstream.
It now appears that with the crypto policy adjustments of the Trump administration, the regulatory environment for the crypto industry has undergone a dramatic change, and Coinbase is a direct beneficiary of this change. The White House summit, the withdrawal of the SEC lawsuit, the restart of the stock tokenization plan, and the potential M&A rumors all suggest that this leading global crypto exchange may be entering a new growth phase, opening up imagination for its future development.
