Crypto Currents: Coinbase makes investment in CoinDCX

As bitcoin, ethereum and other cryptocurrencies see major legal, institutional, and technological developments, the financial landscape continues to adapt. Stay up on the crypto news that matters with the “Crypto Currents” weekly from The Fly. Also, join us for your essential daily recap, every day at 2 PM ET on FlyCast radio.

COINBASE MAKES INVESTMENT IN COINDCX: Coinbase (COIN) announced Wednesday it is making an investment in CoinDCX, a crypto exchange in India and the Middle East, building on its prior investments in CoinDCX via Coinbase Ventures. The company said, “This investment underscores the potential we see in these regions. With over 1.4B people, growing tech adoption, and over 100M crypto owners, India and the Middle East are set to play a big role in the future of crypto – and CoinDCX is a high-growth, financially sound business built for scale at the center of the region’s massive growth opportunity. A retail-focused platform, CoinDCX has grown into a market leader by building trust with users and regulators, and by expanding its footprint across the Middle East. Their journey – including overcoming challenges earlier this year – has only strengthened our conviction in their team and platform. This investment adds to our growing presence in the region, where we also maintain local operations and other important local partners. Taken together, these steps reflect a clear commitment: we believe India and its neighbors will help shape the future of the global onchain economy. This transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.”

Additionally on Thursday, Coinbase Business announced it is introducing global payouts and payment links, enabling businesses to send and receive USDC with low fees, instant settlement, and global reach. These tools simplify vendor payments, eliminate chargebacks, and offer seamless API integrations, empowering businesses to scale efficiently. The company said, “The launch of these new features also marks the next phase for our merchant solutions. As part of this evolution, we will be unifying Coinbase Commerce with Coinbase Business in the coming months. Coinbase Business will offer powerful and integrated solutions, which include full custody and cash-out capabilities that were not available in the standalone Commerce product. We will be in touch with existing Coinbase Commerce customers regarding next steps.”

HOUSE OF DOGE TO LIST ON NASDAQ: House of Doge, the official commercial arm of the Dogecoin Foundation, announced Monday it had (TBH). Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, Brag House will acquire House of Doge in a reverse takeover transaction. The companies said the proposed merger, which has been unanimously approved by both Boards of Directors, will advance mainstream Dogecoin adoption and institutionalize Dogecoin’s utility. The companies expect the transaction to drive a regulated, yield-producing Dogecoin economy via new financial products through House of Doge’s partnerships with 21Shares, Robinhood (HOOD), and CleanCore Solutions (ZONE). Currently backed by more than $50M in investment capital and over 837M Dogecoin within the House of Doge framework, House of Doge aims to build the foundation for a scalable, transparent Dogecoin economy. The proposed transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and the approval of Brag House shareholders. Upon closing of the merger, Brag House is expected to issue approximately 594M shares of common stock, along with certain other securities convertible into approximately 69.25M. The majority of new shares will be issued to current common stockholders of House of Doge. As a result, House of Doge will become the majority shareholder of the company. Brag House’s current shareholders will retain ownership of the remaining equity. Completion of the proposed transaction is expected early in 2026.

B. RILEY STARTS FIVE DAT COMPANIES WITH BUY: B. Riley initiated coverage of(SBET) its top pick. B. Riley started SharpLink with a Buy rating and $32 price target, Bitmine Immersion (BMNR) with a Buy rating and $90 price target, FG Nexus (FGNX) with a Buy and $8 price target, KindlyMD (NAKA) with a Buy and $2 price target, and Sequans (SQNS) with a Buy and $13 price target. The digital asset treasury companies hold cryptocurrencies as their primary assets, operating like closed-end funds, the analyst said. Riley says the group exploits market opportunities through capital allocation. It believes “bullish crypto investors” should consider the group as the companies offer leveraged exposure to crypto returns. Riley noted that SharpLink combines an online gaming marketing business with an Ethereum treasury strategy.

B. Riley also raised the firm’s price target on CleanSpark (CLSK) to $25 from $17 and kept a Buy rating on the shares. A site visit to CleanSpark’s Georgia and Tennessee facilities highlighted its growing focus on high-performance computing alongside Bitcoin mining, the analyst said. The company’s early infrastructure investments and power expertise position it to replicate past success, with AI/HPC projects expected to provide more stable, scalable revenue over time, the firm says.

Citizens JMP also initiated coverage of SharpLink Gaming with an Outperform rating and $50 price target, representing potential upside of over 200% from current levels. SharpLink is building the leading Ethereum treasury company, offering investors a “differentiated vehicle” to gain exposure to Ethereum’s growth and yield generation, the analyst said. The firm believes Ethereum adoption is set to accelerate materially.

Additionally on Monday, BitMine announced BitMine (ORBS) and unencumbered cash of $104M.

ROTH SAYS ENTIRE SECTOR STANDS TO BENEFIT FROM ADC DEAL: Roth Capital noted BlackRock (BLK) and MGX, via the $100B AI Infrastructure Partnership, are acquiring Aligned Data Centers from Macquarie for $40B, the largest DC deal ever. The firm believes this confirms that control of power and the demand for AI are continuing to gain steam. The deal goes to show that power is the asset, and those that own the power control the board, Roth added. The firm (APLD) and TeraWulf (WULF), Neutral-rated Core Scientific (CORZ), Not Rated Cipher Mining (CIFR), and Galaxy Digital (GLXY), likely stand to benefit most, while also proving those still seeking deals but with large baskets of power should receive continued re-ratings as well, Buy-rated Bitdeer (BTDR), Iren (IREN), Riot Platforms (RIOT), Hut 8 (HUT), Hive Digital (HIVE), WhiteFiber (WYFI), and proving AI companies are seeking options to build data centers amongst a scarcity of power, land, and key supply components for hyperscalers, etc., to build data centers from greenfield sites.

Additionally, Lucid Capital initiated coverage of Applied Digital with a Buy rating and $44 price target. The firm launched coverage of five bitcoin mining to high performance compute companies “that are positioned to capitalize on power shortages and other related constraints.” The recent $1T of added spend remains underappreciated and creates “interesting supply/demand dynamics” for companies positioned with megawatts of available power and ability to scale up infrastructure on accelerated timelines, the analyst said. Lucid views Core Scientific as the most undervalued name in the sector and has a $31 price target and Buy rating on the name. The analyst initiated coverage of TeraWulf with a Buy rating and $25 price target and Cipher Mining with a Neutral rating and $18 price target. Lucid Capital also initiated coverage of Riot Platforms with a Buy rating and $25 price target.

Meanwhile, Rosenblatt raised the firm’s price target on TeraWulf to $20 from $14.50 and kept a Buy rating on the shares. The firm sees further upside in the crypto mining stocks, saying the companies’ power assets have become “incredibly valuable in this AI-led market.” The stocks have additional upside as companies execute on their respective power pipelines, the analyst said. Rosenblatt believes the growing optimism about high performance compute also reduces exposure to bitcoin mining at a time when profitability has been squeezed by rising network competition. Rosenblatt raised the firm’s price target on Cipher Mining to $25 from $14, on Hut 8 to $65 from $30, on Hive Digital to $10 from $5 and on Mara Holdings (MARA) to $25 from $20. The analyst kept a Buy rating on the names.

BTIG raised the firm’s price target on Cipher Mining to $25 from $9 and kept a Buy rating on the shares as part of a broader research note on Crypto Mining names. Channel checks continue to point to increasing demand for prompt power by neoclouds and some hyperscalers, which should continue to provide opportunities for companies with access to prompt power to secure HPC colocation contracts, the analyst said. BTIG raised the firm’s price target on Bitdeer to $25 from $23, IREN to $75 from $32, Riot Platforms to $28 from $22, on Hut 8 to $55 from $33 and on CleanSpark to $26 from $22. The analyst kept a Buy rating on all of the names.

BITDEER TO EXPAND HPC/AI STRATEGY: Bitdeer announced Tuesday that, “As of September, Bitdeer allowed its LOI with its development partner to expire in order to significantly expand its direct role in the HPC/AI data center market. In conjunction, Bitdeer has initiated design and layout planning for the Clarington, Ohio site. The new data center will be suitable for Bitcoin mining, with core infrastructure designed from the start to enable easy conversion into an AI data center with redundancy and other critical design elements to ensure flexibility and scalability… HPC/AI priority remains Clarington, Ohio, where the local utility has confirmed that the full 570 MW will be available by the end of Q3 2026-nearly a year earlier than prior expectations. Teams are targeting substation energization in the first half of 2027. Bitdeer also plans to convert its 175 MW Tydal Phase 2 site into an AI data center with expected completion date of Q4 2026…Bitdeer is also working on converting its Wenatchee 13 MW site into an AI data center with modular data center technology.”

The bitcoin miner added that, “Bitdeer sees sustained imbalance between the growing demand and limited supply of AI computing power, and expects it to extend through 2027. In the most optimistic scenario, Bitdeer plans to acquire GPUs for cloud deployment and convert the entire 200 MW of IT load into an AI factory, potentially generating an annualized revenue run-rate exceeding $2B at the end of 2026. Bitdeer.AI, Bitdeer’s neo cloud business, reached $8M AI cloud ARR in September from providing GPU cloud services, with significant growth expected in the remaining three months of 2025. Cloud services has 584 GPUs as of September 2025, of which 501 GPUs are under subscribed, with a utilization rate of approximately 86%. The un-utilized GPUs are B200 GPUs, which were newly installed at the end of September, and are being tested by customers. Bitdeer anticipates full deployment of 1,160 GPUs by year-end. Bitdeer is concurrently securing procurement agreements for NVIDIA’s next-generation GB300 and B300 systems.”

Following the news, Northland raised the firm’s price target on Bitdeer to $35 from $20 and kept an Outperform rating on the shares. The firm noted that Bitdeer is now actively recruiting U.S.-based technical talent across multiple AI data center disciplines to accelerate its high-performance computing initiatives. Meanwhile, Needham raised the firm’s price target on Bitdeer to $30 from $17 and kept a Buy rating on the shares. The firm is positive on the company’s revamped push into high-performance-computing and that Bitdeer will aim to sign a tenant directly vs. share economics with a development partner, the analyst said. Needham added that it expects Bitdeer to expand its neo-cloud services with the opportunity to do so in Singapore and Washington.

Northland also raised the firm’s price target on TeraWulf to $16.25 from $15 and kept an Outperform rating on the shares after the company announced the pricing of its $3.2B offering of senior secured notes due 2030 at 7.750%. The firm views the pricing as “very attractive” and sees it underscoring TeraWulf ‘s improving financing conditions, the analyst said.

Northland raised the firm’s price target on Bitfarms (BITF) to $7 from $3.25 and kept an Outperform rating on the shares after the company converted its $300M Macquarie facility to project-level financing and drew an additional $50M to accelerate Phase 1 of its 350 MW Panther Creek high-performance computing and AI campus. With a 1.3 GW pipeline, Bitfarms is well aligned with hyperscaler demand and offers investors “an underappreciated way to gain exposure to the next wave of U.S. AI/HPC infrastructure buildout,” the analyst contended,

OTHER CRYPTO NEWS: 

• Figure (FIGR) partners with Sui to deploy YLDS on Sui, launches AI-powered DSCR loan platform
• Iren price target raised to $100 from $49 at Cantor Fitzgerald
• Strategy (MSTR) acquires 220 bitcoin for $27.2M
• Bitfarms announces retirement of CFO Jeff Lucas
• Bitcoin Depot (BTM), IGA partner to bring Bitcoin access to grocery stores
• Circle Internet (CRCL) initiated with an Outperform at William Blair
• Circle Internet, Safe partner to establish USDC as stablecoin standard

CRYPTO STOCK PLAYS: Publicly traded companies in the space include Bit Digital (BTBT), Coinbase, Core Scientific, Greenidge Generation (GREE), Mara Holdings, Strategy, Riot Platforms and TeraWulf.

PRICE ACTION: As time of writing, bitcoin dropped roughly 12% this week to $105,151 in U.S. dollars, according to CoinDesk.