Ether Could Be a Meaningful Earnings Driver for Coinbase, JPMorgan Say

• Ether to be a driver of Coinbase earnings, JPMorgan said.

• The bank also raised its price target for Coinbase to $150 from $95.

• The impact of ether appreciation is particularly meaningful, the report said.

America’s largest bank, JPMorgan (JPM), said the Ethereum network and its token ether (ETH) could be a notable contributor to the wider cryptocurrency ecosystem and a positive driver of Coinbase (COIN) earnings.

JPMorgan, while maintaining its neutral rating, raised its price target for Coinbase to $150 from $95 to reflect the crypto market rally and the positive impact that ether has had on the exchange’s revenue.

Coinbase shares slipped over 4% in premarket trading to $223.

The crypto market has been focused on the net new money going into spot bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and the positive impact on the bitcoin price, the report noted, adding that it sees the “impact of ETH appreciation also as particularly meaningful.”

“Ethereum use cases transcend the crypto ecosystem, and we think create a robust earnings driver near term for Coinbase,” analysts led by Kenneth Worthington wrote in a research report on Friday.

“We also see the progression along the Ethereum road map, including the Dencun upgrade, which occurred this week on March 13, as driving crypto development, which is a longer-term positive,” the authors wrote.

The longer-term success of Coinbase would be driven by development, with a focus on tokenization and payments, the bank said.