Perhaps one of the biggest problems with artificial intelligence (AI) is that so many of the advances make sense, but maybe in the most terrifying way possible. Cryptocurrency exchange giant Coinbase (COIN) recently called out one of these developments, suggesting that AI agents were going to need cryptocurrency in order to effectively operate in financial markets. This struck a chord with investors, and shares gained nearly 3% in Wednesday morning’s trading.
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Coinbase’s head of institutional strategy, John D’Agostino, took to CNBC’s Squawk Box program to discuss the matter, noting that AI agents were going to need to run on “true sources of information,” because it would be “…disastrous if they didn’t.” And, since the underlying technology of cryptocurrency is blockchain, which D’Agostino described as “…an infinitely scalable source of truth,” then crypto and AI agents do work together.
Perhaps more functionally, crypto would be the perfect means for AI agents to carry out tasks, like booking hotel rooms and travel and the like. But by like token, it is also the perfect means for, say, your suddenly-rogue AI agent to hire a hitman to come and remove you from the picture. This is like Skynet, but a little more subtle.
Loan Milestone
Meanwhile, reports noted that Coinbase crossed a milestone recently, originating over $1 billion worth of “onchain loans” that used Bitcoin ($BTC-USD) as collateral. These loans went through the DeFi protocol known as Morpho, reports noted.
Further, this is just the beginning; Brian Armstrong, Coinbase’s CEO, wants to get that number up to $100 billion, ultimately. Armstrong further declared, “These adoption charts are what every product manager wants to see: hockey stick growth. The onchain economy is thriving.” With Morpho, users can borrow up to $100,000 in the USDC stablecoin with their Bitcoin holdings serving as collateral. This allows users to make their Bitcoin liquid without incurring a “taxable event.”
Is Coinbase a Buy, Sell or Hold?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on COIN stock based on 14 Buys, 13 Holds and two Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 105.20% rally in its share price over the past year, the average COIN price target of $379.38 per share implies 8.78% upside potential.
