New York, Feb 18, 2026, 19:21 (ET) — After-hours
- Coinbase shares were lower in late trading after a volatile session.
- ARK Invest disclosed fresh buys in Coinbase stock in its latest daily trades.
- Traders are watching Friday’s U.S. core PCE inflation data for the next risk trigger.
Coinbase Global, Inc. shares fell about 1.2% to $164.05 in after-hours trading on Wednesday, after swinging between $163.29 and $173.89 earlier in the day.
The move matters because Coinbase still trades like a proxy for risk appetite in crypto — when digital-asset prices wobble, investors start doing quick math on trading volumes and fee revenue. That sensitivity is back in focus heading into a packed U.S. data stretch.
Bitcoin was down about 1.6% at roughly $66,461, dragging on the broader “crypto-linked” complex. Robinhood was little changed, while Strategy slid about 2.7% in late trade.
Cathie Wood’s ARK also leaned in again. ARK’s daily trading disclosures showed it added 41,453 Coinbase shares, worth about $6.81 million, according to Investing.com’s summary of the trades. (Investing.com South Africa)
Chief executive Brian Armstrong, responding to investor worries on X, wrote that Coinbase is “a bit of a misunderstood company” and said it had “never been in a stronger position.” Benchmark analyst Mark Palmer, in a note cited by DL News, said the stock trades like “levered crypto beta” — Wall Street shorthand for a stock that amplifies moves in the underlying market. (DL News)
Coinbase also had product and platform headlines in the mix. Base said it is moving away from Optimism’s “OP Stack” — a software toolkit used to run Ethereum layer-2 networks — toward a unified, Base-operated stack, with more frequent network upgrades (“hard forks,” or scheduled rule changes). (Base Engineering Blog)
On the consumer side, Coinbase said its U.S. crypto-backed lending product is expanding to support XRP, Dogecoin, Cardano and Litecoin. The company said customers can borrow up to $100,000 in USDC — a dollar-pegged stablecoin — by posting collateral on Morpho, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, though loans carry liquidation risk if collateral values fall. (Decrypt)
Last week, Coinbase posted a surprise quarterly loss as transaction revenue fell on weaker crypto trading volumes, while its subscription and services line rose on stablecoin-linked revenue, Reuters reported. (Reuters)
But the downside case is straightforward: if bitcoin keeps slipping, retail activity can dry up fast and fee-heavy transaction revenue gets hit first. And in stressed markets, loan liquidations can spike, turning a “borrow without selling” pitch into messy outcomes for customers.
Macro is part of the backdrop too. Federal Reserve minutes released on Wednesday showed many officials wanted more progress on inflation before backing additional rate cuts, a tone that tends to filter quickly into high-beta corners of the market. (AP News)
Next up, traders will watch the U.S. core PCE price index on Friday, Feb. 20 — the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge that strips out food and energy — for signals on rates and, by extension, risk assets like crypto and Coinbase. (Bea)
