The well-known analyst group, however, continues to see potential in Bitcoin. Coinbase has enjoyed a successful period, culminating in a strong Q4 2023 performance that exceeded analyst expectations and indicated a rebound from the crypto winter.
Nevertheless, the exchange experienced a temporary setback due to a technical issue believed to be triggered by increased traffic, which erroneously showed zero balances for some users.
Quick Resolution
Coinbase quickly addressed the malfunction, and its CEO, Brian Armstrong, took to X to clarify the situation.
At present, Coinbase is fully operational with the exception of PlayDapp (PLA) transactions.
Though the glitch caused no lasting harm, merely giving users a brief scare by showing their balances as zero, it drew criticism from some established financial entities, notably Citron Research.
Bearish on COIN, Bullish on BTC
Citron Research, led by the renowned bearish investor Andrew Left and known for its two decades of providing an alternative perspective to Wall Street, has had its share of inaccurate forecasts, such as the premature call to short Ethereum after the FTX collapse.
In the wake of the recent Coinbase downtime, Citron has advised investors to short sell Coinbase’s stock while encouraging them to maintain long positions in Bitcoin.
Despite a minor decline in COIN’s value in recent days as observed on MarketWatch, Coinbase’s stock appears to have found some stability. It’s yet unclear if Citron’s speculation on Coinbase’s stock underperforming in comparison to Bitcoin will materialize.
Amidst the renewed interest in Bitcoin, which saw its price momentarily surge past $63K, the cryptocurrency is currently valued at $62K, per CoinMarketCap.
“There’s a resurgence of interest in the sector. The anticipation around the Bitcoin ETF was bound to cause some market reaction, heavily hyped as it was. Yet, beneath the excitement lay a substantial development—the market’s institutionalization and regulatory recognition,” explained Will Rhind, CEO of Graniteshare Advisors LLC.
As Bitcoin edges closer to its all-time high of $69K, investor confidence in BTC ETFs offered by various financial entities is likely to grow. As a primary platform for institutional crypto purchases, Coinbase stands to benefit significantly from this trend.