By Elsa Ohlen and Janet H. Cho

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global will join the benchmark index S&P 500 from May 19, marking an important milestone for the crypto sector.

While not entirely unexpected -- Coinbase is one of the largest companies based on market value not currently part of the index -- shares jumped almost 10% to $226.75 in premarket trading Tuesday.

As of Monday's close, Coinbase's market cap stood at $50.8 billion. The profile of cryptocurrencies and crypto-related companies has risen under expectations that the Trump administration will be more crypto-friendly than his predecessor.

The price of digital coins has also risen markedly since it became clear in November that President Donald Trump would return to the White House. The world's largest crypto, Bitcoin, is up roughly 50% since election day on Nov. 5.

Coinbase will replace the online bank operator Discover Financial Services, S&P Dow Jones Indices said in a press release late Monday. Discover is being acquired by Capital One Financial in a $35.3 billion all-stock bid that will create the nation's sixth largest bank. The deal is expected to close on May 18.

"Thank you to everyone who made it possible for a crypto company to join the S&P 500 for the first time in history," Coinbase wrote on the social-media platform X.

Robinhood, another online trading platform with a crypto trading offering, was largely flat early Tuesday, after a 5% jump Monday.

MicroStrategy, another closely-watched crypto-related stock and the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, climbed 1.1% in premarket trading.

Write to Elsa Ohlen at elsa.ohlen@barrons.com and Janet H. Cho at janet.cho@dowjones.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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May 13, 2025 06:20 ET (10:20 GMT)

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