The use of cryptocurrency by Hamas militants to fund recent attacks on Israel may have set back Coinbase\u2019s crypto lobbying efforts in the United States, says a new investment report from Berenberg Capital Markets.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In an Oct. 18 research note, Berenberg lead analyst Mark Palmer said the primary driver of his \u201ccautious stance\u201d towards Coinbase comes from the various regulatory actions being levied against it in the U.S., along with political headwinds emanating from the Israel-Hamas conflict.<\/p>\n Last week, the Financial Times reported<\/a> that Israeli authorities shut down and seized more than 100 accounts on Binance and other crypto exchanges<\/a>which were being used to aid Hamas in its fundraising efforts.<\/p>\n As part of the crackdown, Israeli authorities seized millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile Hamas announced last April that it would no longer use crypto for fundraising due to the ability of authorities to track its movement on blockchain ledgers, we believe the recent headlines are likely to make clarity around the question of crypto\u2019s legal status even more elusive,\u201d wrote Palmer. <\/p>\n Over the last few years, Coinbase has drastically upped its lobbying efforts<\/a> in the U.S. as part of a strategy to see more clear and crypto-friendly regulation introduced in the country. <\/p>\n Berenberg analysts reiterated their \u201chold\u201d recommendation on Coinbase (COIN) stock and maintained a price target of $39. <\/p>\n Coinbase shares were trading at $77.30, up 3% on the day, according to data<\/a> from TradingView at the time of publication. <\/p>\n \u201cWe continue to view COIN through a cautious lens, especially after the stock has traded up by more than 112% this year versus ~72% for Bitcoin and ~29% for the tech-heavy Nasdaq,\u201d said Palmer.<\/p>\n \u201cOur Hold rating on COIN reflects our view that the stock is uninvestable in the near term,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/s3.cointelegraph.com\/uploads\/2023-10\/5f007087-2854-4367-9478-61265af11f0b.png\")