Coinbase Stock Receives Buy Rating, Monero Benefits from Zcash Crisis, BlackRock Purchases $900 Million in Bitcoin

Bank of America Upgrades Coinbase to "Buy"

Analysts at Bank of America have raised their assessment of Coinbase stock from "Neutral" to "Buy," signaling increased confidence in the strategic direction of the U.S. crypto exchange ^[1]. The price target remains at $340, which represents significant upside potential from the current price level of approximately $248 ^[1].

The analysts cite the company's leading position in tokenization as the primary reason for their optimistic assessment ^[1]. With the Coinbase Tokenize platform, the company offers asset managers an integrated solution for issuing, custody, and compliance of digital assets ^[1]. The analysts see this as a clear competitive advantage over pure trading platforms, as Coinbase specifically targets institutional clients looking to represent traditional securities such as ETFs onchain ^[1].

Furthermore, Bank of America identifies the Layer-2 solution Base as a potential revenue driver ^[1]. Speculation about a native Base token persists, which could not only serve as a financial advantage for Coinbase but also create incentives for developers and users to further decentralize the ecosystem ^[1]. The analysts point to the $5 billion in capital already locked on the chain ^[1].

Goldman Sachs also expressed positive sentiment at the beginning of the week, raising its rating to "Buy" with a price target of $303 ^[1]. Both banking institutions praise the diversification of revenue streams through new products such as derivatives and prediction markets ^[1]. Despite the optimistic assessment, experts point to risks, particularly a possible resurgence of Binance.US, which could cost market share ^[1].

Monero Gains Significantly in Privacy Coin Sector

Monero (XMR) has impressively returned to the top of the privacy coins ^[2]. Trading at around $460, the cryptocurrency is within striking distance of its late December high of $490 ^[2]. The all-time high of approximately $542 is coming back within reach ^[2].

The driving factor behind this development is a massive collapse of direct competitor Zcash (ZEC) ^[2]. The token plummeted by up to 20 percent on Thursday after it became known that the entire team at Electric Coin Company (ECC) had collectively resigned ^[2]. The background is an escalated dispute with the board of the nonprofit parent company "Bootstrap" ^[2].

ECC CEO Josh Swihart spoke of a "constructive termination" by the board and announced that the developers would form a new company ^[2]. This move brings enormous uncertainty to Zcash's roadmap, as questions about short-term coordination and the protocol's strategic direction remain unanswered for now ^[2].

The development marks a clear reversal from late 2025, when Zcash had the upper hand due to new wallet integrations and narratives around surveillance protection ^[2]. Monero was then struggling with concerns about network stability following a major block reorganization in September that had fueled fears of mining centralization ^[2]. Now capital appears to be shifting back in favor of Monero, while ZEC slips out of the top 20 tokens ^[2].

BlackRock Massively Expands Bitcoin Position

BlackRock purchased nearly $900 million worth of Bitcoin in the first week of January, rebuilding its position after a decline in late 2025 ^[3]. Data from Lookonchain shows that BlackRock has accumulated 9,619 BTC worth approximately $878 million over the past three days ^[3]. The company currently holds approximately 780,400 BTC valued at $70 billion ^[3].

BlackRock's Bitcoin holdings peaked on November 30 at approximately 804,000 BTC, which was worth about $96.5 billion at the time ^[3]. Although holdings had fallen to 771,000 BTC by January 1, BlackRock quickly added nearly 9,000 BTC in the first week of January ^[3].

The institutional purchases coincide with a remarkable shift among long-term holders ^[3]. Bitcoin's Exchange Inflow Coin Days Destroyed (CDD) metric on Binance has fallen to its lowest level since 2017, signaling that older coins are barely being transferred to exchanges anymore ^[3]. Long-term holder supply fell from over 15 million in July 2025 to 13.6 million in November 2025, but has not decreased further in recent months ^[3].