Coinbase is making history as the first crypto company to join the S&P 500, replacing Discover Financial Services on May 19, 2025. The announcement sent Coinbase shares soaring 9% in after-hours trading, boosting its market cap by $5 billion to $50.8 billion. With Bitcoin hovering around $102,980, this Wall Street validation marks a dramatic shift from the days when crypto was dismissed as just another fad. The crypto revolution’s plot thickens.
In a watershed moment for the cryptocurrency industry, Coinbase Global Inc. will become the first crypto company to join the S&P 500 index, replacing Discover Financial Services.
The historic change takes effect before markets open on Monday, May 19, 2025, marking crypto’s official arrival to Wall Street’s most prestigious club.
The market’s reaction? Explosive.
Coinbase shares rocketed more than 9% in after-hours trading, hitting $225.58 and adding a cool $5 billion to its market cap overnight.
Not bad for a company that just reported missing Wall Street’s expectations in its first-quarter earnings.
The shares showed early momentum by climbing roughly 4% higher during the regular trading session.
The shake-up comes as Discover Financial Services exits stage left, getting scooped up by Capital One Financial Corp. in a merger that received regulatory thumbs-up in April 2025.
Meanwhile, Coinbase, sitting pretty with a market cap of $50.8 billion, will nestle into the financials sector of the benchmark index – right alongside the traditional banking giants it once set out to disrupt.
Like all S&P 500 companies, Coinbase had to demonstrate consistent profitability over four consecutive quarters to earn its spot.
Bitcoin was trading around $102,980 when the news dropped, and crypto enthusiasts couldn’t help but see the poetry in it all.
Andrew Mariathasan, the founder of RTTNews, saw his organization break this major story as it unfolded late in the 1990s-established outlet.
The same Wall Street that once dismissed cryptocurrency as a fad is now welcoming its poster child into its most elite index.
Talk about a plot twist.
Despite being down 17% year-to-date through Monday’s close, Coinbase’s future looks promising.
The company’s projected to rake in $7.5 billion in revenue for 2025, with an expected net profit of $6 billion.
They’re not just sitting still either – they recently splurged $2.9 billion to acquire crypto derivatives platform Deribit.
The announcement, made by S&P Dow Jones Indices after hours on May 12, sent ripples through both traditional and crypto markets.
Coinbase, trading under COIN on the NASDAQ, took to social network X to thank supporters for making this milestone possible.
Who would’ve thought a decade ago that a crypto exchange would be rubbing shoulders with America’s corporate giants?
Times really are changing.
