Goldman Sachs raised its Coinbase Global price target from $173 to $196 on August 25 and maintained Buy ratings on both Coinbase and Robinhood Markets, with a $124 target for Robinhood. Analyst James Yaro called the bank's position "cautiously optimistic," citing structural growth in brokerage and prediction markets alongside regulatory developments tied to the CLARITY Act. Coinbase shares had gained more than 21% over the prior week. Robinhood rose about 12% over the same stretch.
🚨 Goldman Sachs Turns Cautiously Bullish on Crypto for H2 2026
— Rednirav (@CryptoRednirav) August 25, 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
The upgrades arrived against a difficult backdrop. Crypto trading volumes fell 30% in July and another 21% in August. The bank described the current contraction as longer than the previous five volume cycles it examined. From their recent peak, cumulative volumes had dropped roughly 75%.
Bitcoin's weekly gain of about 26%, reaching an intraday high near $81,255, changed the calculus. The total cryptocurrency market capitalization recovered roughly 21% to $2.8 trillion over the past week. Goldman analysts said volumes could begin to recover if the market holds near those levels. Coinbase shares traded at $91.35 when Yaro published his note, up about 27% from August 19, the day the US Treasury announced it would double the size of its longer-dated bond buyback program, per TipRanks.
The recovery that made a bullish call possible
Goldman's report also published findings from its institutional investor survey. According to the bank, 35% of respondents named regulatory uncertainty as the largest barrier to crypto market participation, while 32% said regulatory clarity was the primary catalyst for wider adoption.
The SEC has since proposed Regulation Crypto Assets, a framework covering certain investment contracts. The proposal includes a route that would allow eligible issuers to raise up to $75 million over a rolling 12-month period. A 60-day comment window follows official publication. Goldman CEO David Solomon has also backed the CLARITY Act publicly, even as banking groups pushed back on provisions related to stablecoin yields.
Goldman's XRP position and what the 13F filing leaves out
Goldman Sachs had zero reported XRP ETF exposure at the end of the first quarter. The bank had previously held $153.8 million across four XRP funds at the end of 2025 before removing every position in Q1. By the end of June, its reported exposure reached approximately $86.5 million across five spot XRP funds, disclosed in its second-quarter Form 13F across vehicles managed by Franklin Templeton and Grayscale, among others named in the filing.
Form 13F disclosures show certain long US securities positions at quarter-end. They do not identify whether holdings belong to clients or the bank's own balance sheet, and they do not capture positions opened and closed within a single quarter. The filing confirms Goldman held those XRP ETF positions at the end of June. It does not establish a directional view on the asset's price.
What Coinbase and Robinhood are building outside spot markets
Goldman's positive view on both stocks was not based solely on expectations that spot crypto volumes would return. The bank also pointed to tokenized securities and prediction markets as areas where both platforms have expanded.
Coinbase's prediction-market division reached $100 million in annualized revenue less than two months after its launch. Bernstein projected that Robinhood's prediction-market revenue could grow from $150 million in 2025 to $586 million in 2026, with FIFA World Cup-related activity cited as one driver. Robinhood also launched an Ethereum layer-2 network called Robinhood Chain in July, designed for tokenized stocks and settlement outside standard US market hours.
Those products carry their own regulatory exposure. Tokenized instruments may not replicate the ownership rights attached to underlying shares. Several state regulators have challenged whether certain event contracts qualify as unlicensed gambling, a question Coinbase and Robinhood have not fully resolved.
Goldman's Neos acquisition and the September Senate vote
In August, Goldman agreed to acquire Neos Investments for up to $2.25 billion, subject to regulatory approval. Neos manages more than $30 billion across 19 options-based income ETFs. Two of its products provide exposure linked to Bitcoin and Ethereum through options strategies. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027.
The CLARITY Act, which would determine whether certain digital assets fall under SEC or Commodity Futures Trading Commission jurisdiction, faces a procedural Senate vote on September 15. Investors are also watching Wednesday's US personal consumption expenditures report, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge. Goldman CEO Solomon has publicly supported the legislation even as parts of the banking industry remain opposed over stablecoin reward provisions.
Dayo Paul
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