Czech National Bank Boosts Tech and Crypto Holdings by 55%

The Czech National Bank has made a strategic move by increasing its exposure to technology and crypto-related stocks in the second quarter. The bank added 51,732 shares of Coinbase Global, valued at over $18 million, and boosted its holdings in Palantir Technologies by purchasing an additional 49,135 shares, bringing its total stake in the data analytics company to 519,950 shares as of the end of June.

Coinbase has seen a 55% year-to-date stock price gain, driven by strong earnings per share and expansion into tokenization and derivatives through acquisitions like Deribit and Liquifi. The company's strategic shift also included increased holdings in AI-focused Palantir. Despite a decline in revenue and trading volume, Coinbase's share price has risen sharply, with an overall monthly increase of around 60%.

Coinbase's drop in transaction revenue by 18.9% to $1.26 billion and a 10.5% dip in trading volume to $393 billion reflect some of the broader market pressures, including reduced investor activity. Still, the company managed to outperform analyst expectations with earnings per share of $1.94. As part of its growth strategy, Coinbase has been expanding into the derivatives and tokenization space. In May, it agreed to acquire crypto options trading platform Deribit for $2.9 billion. More recently, it purchased Liquifi, a token management platform that is geared toward early-stage tokenization projects. This acquisition enhances Coinbase’s capabilities in managing token cap tables, vesting schedules, and regulatory compliance, which positions it well to support token creators from the earliest stages of development.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong also recently announced a new partnership with AI-powered search engine Perplexity. The goal of the partnership is to merge real-time crypto market data with artificial intelligence tools. The collaboration will see Perplexity integrate Coinbase’s market data, including the COIN50 index, into its platform to power market analysis in its newly launched Comet browser. In the next phase, user queries on Perplexity will be directly linked to Coinbase’s market data, which will create a more seamless bridge between AI-driven search and digital asset platforms. Armstrong explained that this partnership is a step toward deeper integration between AI and crypto, and could even potentially lead to a future where AI bots can execute trades, manage portfolios, and handle staking operations. This vision aligns with Armstrong’s previous comments from August of 2024 when he advocated for LLMs to have crypto wallets. Shortly after that, he oversaw the first crypto transaction that was executed entirely by AI.

Despite the positive developments, controversy erupted after allegations that Coinbase targeted Binance and Trump’s crypto project. However, the company very strongly denies the claims. Coinbase’s chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, publicly denied the claims by labeling them as misinformation. Grewal insisted that Coinbase had no involvement in the story. The Bloomberg article in question alleged that Binance was behind the creation of the USD1 stablecoin, linked to Trump’s World Liberty Financial. It also claimed that Zhao wanted a presidential pardon shortly after a $2 billion investment deal involving a UAE fund and the USD1 token, of which over 90% remains in Binance wallets, reportedly generating millions in annual interest. Grewal called the article as a competitor-sponsored “hit piece” that is riddled with inaccuracies. He also hinted at legal action for defamation.