What happened
Shares of Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN), the top cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S., were rising today as the price of Bitcoin and Ethereum jumped.
The cryptocurrency stock was up by 6% as of 1:19 p.m. ET.
So what
The prices of Bitcoin and Ethereum were rising today after major accounting firm KPMG said that its Canadian office had added both of the cryptocurrencies to its corporate treasury. That marks the first time KPMG has directly invested in crypto assets.
Image source: Getty Images.
Benjie Thomas, a Canadian Managing Partner for KPMG in Canada, said in a press release, “This investment reflects our belief that institutional adoption of cryptoassets and blockchain technology will continue to grow and become a regular part of the asset mix.”
That move helped push Bitcoin and Ethereum’s token, Ether, higher today, with Bitcoin up 6.4% and Ether up 5.3% over the past 24 hours.
The rising price of those coins, which are the two most valuable cryptocurrencies, subsequently helped push Coinbase’s stock higher today as many investors use the exchange to buy and sell their cryptos.
Additionally, investors may also be generally optimistic about the crypto market today after a report released by FSInsight said that Bitcoin’s price could reach $200,000 by the end of this year and that Ethereum could reach $12,000.
There’s no way to predict whether or not these cryptos will reach those prices, but when added to the KPMG news, the report could be helping to fuel the price of Bitcoin and Ethereum — and thus boosting Coinbase’s shares higher.
Now what
While Coinbase investors should certainly be happy about the company’s share price jump today, investors may want to continue to brace for more volatility.
The company’s share price has plummeted 39% during the past three months as investors soured toward the cryptocurrency market over that period. Rising inflation and the Federal Reserve’s potential interest rate hikes later this year have caused instability in the crypto and tech markets lately.
Investors will get a clearer picture of how the company is doing when Coinbase reports its fourth-quarter and full-year 2021 results on Feb. 24.
This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the “official” recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium advisory service. We’re motley! Questioning an investing thesis — even one of our own — helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer.