Coinbase (COIN) will become an official member of the S&P 500 index on May 19, becoming the first crypto company to join the elite club of America’s 500 best publicly traded companies.
The crypto exchange will be substituted for Discover Financial Services (DFS), acquired recently by Capital One (COF), according to a May 12 update from S&P Global.
The S&P 500 is an index that measures the performance of the biggest U.S. companies, a significant share of the U.S. stock market. Coinbase’s presence is expected to increase demand for its shares, as funds that track the index now have to include COIN in their portfolios.
After the news, COIN jumped up 10.94% in after-hours trading to $229.90. It had closed the March 12 trading session up 4% to take its market cap to $52.8 billion.
Coinbase CFO Alesia Haas described the move as a “major milestone” for the company and the crypto industry. “This prestigious index shows how far Coinbase and the industry have come,” she said.
Coinbase now becomes another big player in the S&P 500, alongside Tesla (TSLA) and Block (SQ), as crypto-involved companies.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin-heavy firm Strategy (MSTR) was once considered a serious contender, but its $4.2 billion Q1 loss this year damaged its chances. To qualify, firms must show profits in the last calendar year and the most recent quarter.
This step is a clear indication that crypto is increasingly becoming part of traditional finance and Wall Street’s acceptance of its staying power.
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