COIN soars as Coinbase books slot on S&P 500 index

COIN rallied over 10% in after-hours trading following an announcement by the S&P Global that Coinbase will replace Discover Financial Services in the S&P 500 index beginning May 19.

Coinbase stock surges following inclusion to the S&P 500 index

Crypto exchange Coinbase will become the first crypto stock in the popular S&P 500. The exchange's stock, COIN, will go live on the index beginning next Monday, according to a press release by the S&P Global Media Center. 

COIN will replace Discover Financial Services, which Capital One Financing Corp recently acquired.

The S&P 500, with a market cap of approximately $47 trillion, is a stock market index that tracks the performance of the 500 largest publicly traded companies in the United States. It serves as a broad representation of US stock and is often used as a benchmark to gauge the overall health of the equity market.

COIN's inclusion in the index would also grant larger financial players indirect access to investing in crypto stocks, potentially boosting crypto legitimacy among traditional investors.

The milestone follows years of legal battles between Coinbase and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The agency eventually dropped its lawsuit against the exchange in February.

"Imagine battling the SEC for years, only to ascend to the S&P 500 just months later. There's no worthier steward of this victory than Coinbase," said Bitwise Head of Alpha Strategies Jeff Park in a Monday X post.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong highlighted that the milestone signifies "crypto is here to stay."

COIN closed the day with a 3.96% gain, but surged over 10% in after-hours trading following the announcement.