Cryptocurrency stock and crypto exchange leader Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) has made one giant leap north for crypto-kind, making a push into Canada and opening a new office therein. While Canada wasn’t without options to buy cryptocurrency before Coinbase, the whole concept just got that much smoother. The move was sufficient to budge Coinbase stock up fractionally in Monday afternoon’s trading.
Thanks to Coinbase’s Canadian invasion, Canadians can now use Interac e-transfers to put funds in Coinbase and speculate all they please, assuming Coinbase offers access to the cryptocurrency desired. Just in the last month, half of all Coinbase’s deposits have come in via Interac e-transfer, so there’s clearly interest there. Moreover, Canadian users will also get access to Coinbase One, which offers not only zero-fee trading, but also improved rewards for using held crypto in staking.
Coinbase, for its part, is calling Canada its next “Go Deep Market,” which means it will pull out all the stops to get Canadians on board with crypto trading. Indeed, as related by Coinbase vice president for international and business development Nana Murugesan, Canada is “…well positioned to be a global leader in the cryptoeconomy….” That’s thanks to a combination of factors, including Canada’s high level of crypto awareness, which means less marketing and education outreach required. Also, there’s a “…passionate local tech ecosystem…,” which means users can get in on Coinbase right away.
That all adds up to good news for Coinbase, but analysts aren’t so sure. With six Buy ratings, eight Hold and eight Sell, Coinbase stock is currently a Hold by analyst consensus. Further, with an average price target of $80.68, Coinbase stock comes with a somewhat discouraging 0.76% downside risk as well.
