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The gateway to cryptocurrency exposure just got a lot bigger.

Coinbase (COIN), the $60 billion crypto exchange, has cemented its standing as the industry leader and entryway to the dicey world of digital currency. But in joining the ranks of the S&P 500, it's advanced the crypto world's years-long campaign to fuse itself to the global financial system.

In one sense, it's a much-needed update. Legacy institutions are playing desperate catch-up to where people's money, attention, and interests reside. It also underscores the walking contradictions associated with the crypto world's rapid ascent. For all the talk of forging an alternative to centralized banking and investment, every announcement of a crypto business partnering with a legacy institution seems to offer a jolt of legitimacy — and the hope of numbers going up. Sign up for the Yahoo Finance Morning Brief Subscribe

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But it's harder to take that line of criticism seriously when the straight-laced parts of the financial world look so unstable.

In a recent blog post, Citibank CEO Jane Fraser described a "deeper confidence shock" arising from a new phase of globalization. In the face of bond market tremors and warnings of investors diversifying away from American assets, investing in more exotic properties doesn't seem as dangerous.

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In an era where big-name tickers can move like meme stocks and meme stocks move like alt coins, why not just cut to the chase and hold some of your own? That may seem frightening and irresponsible to some. But that's what makes Coinbase's S&P inclusion so meaningful.

In a direct and indirect way, many more investors will be supporting the acceptance of various tokens and crypto businesses through their ownership of Coinbase shares, through ETFs and mutual funds.

Over the past week, the stock has soared nearly 30%. The rise is even more dramatic when measured from the tariff doldrums of early April. Coinbase shares have climbed 75% since then, mirroring bitcoin's recovery from recent lows.

The company's S&P inauguration comes amid a double whammy of a hack disclosure and a report of an ongoing SEC probe. That feels like an achievement rolled into a setback. And it is. Trying to figure out what this means for crypto in an uncertain trade war thaw also points to ambivalence.

President Trump is set to host a dinner this week for the top buyers of his crypto token $TRUMP, which has raised widespread criticism over potential conflicts of interest.

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Depending on your perspective, that's a distraction, a microcosm of the broader crypto ecosystem, or just another storyline in a strange, new world.

Crypto diehards, perhaps reinvigorated by Coinbase's elevation, can point to bitcoin's price chart this year and make the case that it's finally behaving like an inflation hedge or a digital gold as the stock market trembles. You don't have to believe them. And maybe you shouldn't. But they now have a little more of your money on their side.

Hamza Shaban is a reporter for Yahoo Finance covering markets and the economy. Follow Hamza on X @hshaban.morning brief image

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