Goldman Sachs Backs Coinbase and Robinhood as Bitcoin Rally Accelerates

TL;DR:

• Stock recommendations: Goldman Sachs maintained its Buy rating for Coinbase Global with a price target of $196 and for Robinhood Markets with a $124 target.
• Institutional flows: The banking institution reported an $86.5 million holding distributed across five spot XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs) at the close of the second quarter.
• Trading activity: Crypto market trading volume fell 30% in July and posted an additional 21% contraction during August.

Investment bank Goldman Sachs is backing Coinbase and Robinhood by reiterating its Buy ratings, amid a backdrop where the price of Bitcoin surpassed the $80,000 threshold after notching a 26% weekly gain.

Goldman Sachs Turns Cautiously Bullish on Crypto for H2 2026

Despite trading volumes dropping 30% in July + 21% in August (longer than past cycles), the bank sees potential rebound if market cap holds near $2.8T.

Goldman Sachs even increased crypto ETF positions and… https://t.co/uFOip7un77

— Rednirav (@CryptoRednirav) August 25, 2026

The total market capitalization of digital assets reached $2.8 trillion after rebounding 21% over the last seven days. According to Goldman Sachs‘ Americas Brokers sector report, transaction volumes experienced a cumulative pullback of nearly 75% from their recent highs.

Analysts at the firm noted that operational activity across crypto exchanges could enter a recovery phase if overall market valuations sustain their current levels. According to the bank’s estimates, an increase in spot prices tends to encourage both retail and institutional participation, which would boost commission revenues for publicly listed firms.

Over the past week, Coinbase shares posted a gain of more than 21%, while Robinhood shares rose 12%. Analyst James Yaro raised Coinbase’s price target from $173 to $196.

Revenue Diversification and Exposure in Exchange-Traded Funds

The investment bank’s assessment highlighted the expansion of both platforms into segments beyond conventional spot trading. These business verticals include prediction markets, tokenized stock trading, and perpetual futures contracts.

Coinbase’s event contracts division reached an annualized revenue run rate of $100 million less than two months after its launch. According to projections published by research firm Bernstein, Robinhood’s revenues from prediction markets could reach $586 million by the end of 2026, up from $150 million recorded in 2025.

In July, Robinhood deployed its Layer 2 network on Ethereum, dubbed Robinhood Chain, designed for the settlement and trading of tokenized securities outside standard US market hours.

On the institutional investment front, Goldman Sachs reported an $86.5 million position in its second-quarter Form 13F filing, spread across spot XRP investment vehicles managed by Franklin Templeton, Bitwise, Canary Capital, 21Shares, and Grayscale. This regulatory filing does not reflect intraday trading, nor does it specify whether the assets correspond to client custody mandates or proprietary treasury holdings.

In parallel, the firm agreed in August to acquire asset manager Neos Investments for up to $2.25 billion, a firm managing more than $30 billion in exchange-traded funds based on Bitcoin and Ethereum options strategies.

The rally in digital asset-linked equities coincides with legislative debate in Washington surrounding the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) investment contract regulatory proposal, alongside the progress of the CLARITY bill in the US Senate, where a procedural vote is scheduled for September 15.