• Piper Sandler downgraded Coinbase Global Inc on Wednesday.
• Analyst Patrick Moley cited regulatory uncertainty for dovish view.
• Coinbase stock has gained close to 60% over the past thirty days.

Coinbase Global Inc has been an absolute delight for shareholders over the past thirty days but a sharp downturn is likely moving forward, as per a Piper Sandler analyst.

Avoid Coinbase stock due to regulatory uncertainty

On Wednesday, Patrick Moley downgraded the crypto exchange to “neutral” and lowered his price target as well to $60 that signals a 25% downside from here.

The analyst turned dovish primarily because the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued the Nasdaq-listed firm last month for operating as an unregistered exchange (read more).

In a research note today, he attributed the recent surge in Coinbase stock to prominent asset managers filing for a Spot Bitcoin ETF and the consequent benefit to crypto prices but said:

Rising crypto prices have not translated to increased trading volumes for COIN in recent quarters and the timing of a Spot Bitcoin ETF approval is anyone’s guess.

Coinbase Global will report a weak second quarter

Moley expects the crypto company to report monthly transacting users and trading volumes at a two-year low in its second financial quarter.

The Piper Sandler analyst agreed that Coinbase Global will eventually emerge as a major player within the crypto space but said:

We’d like to see more progress on regulatory front and a convincing turnaround in underlying fundamentals of the business before becoming more positive on Coinbase stock.

Despite the regulatory crackdown, though, Coinbase increased its market share last month to a new high since January 2023, as per data from Kaiko – a digital assets data provider.