Morning Briefing

Good morning, here are the top stories and headlines for Friday, May 8, 2026. Analysts are looking ahead to today's release of the April jobs report for further economic indicators. 

Global & National News

• Local Election Results: Early results from local elections are being analyzed for what they reveal about the current political climate.
• Trump Administration Tariffs: A specialty trade court has struck down a second round of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.
• Hormuz Conflict & Peace Deal Hopes: While oil prices dropped on hopes that the U.S. and Iran are nearing a peace deal, tensions remain high as U.S. Navy destroyers recently transited the Strait of Hormuz.
• Hantavirus Outbreak: Health authorities are monitoring dozens of passengers who left a cruise ship following a hantavirus outbreak. 

Bitcoin & Crypto Update

• Price Movement: Bitcoin is currently trading near $80,208.58. While it opened the day down 1.7% from yesterday, it has seen a slight recovery this morning.
• Market Drivers: Analysts are watching today’s U.S. April jobs report, which could impact the broader market, including crypto. Additionally, recent military escalations between the U.S. and Iran in the Strait of Hormuz have pushed Brent crude oil prices up and initially caused Bitcoin to slip below the $80,000 support level.
• Supply Shock: On-chain data reveals a significant supply squeeze, with roughly 100,000 BTC (worth over $8 billion) leaving major exchanges like Binance and OKX since February. Exchange reserves are now at their lowest levels since late 2023.
• ETF Inflows: Demand remains robust, with Spot Bitcoin ETFs recording nearly $1 billion in net inflows over the past few days as the asset maintains its position above the $80k mark. 

Industry Headlines

• Coinbase Outage: Coinbase reported a several-hour trading outage earlier today, which the company attributed to an AWS service disruption.
• Swiss Referendum Fails: A campaign to require the Swiss National Bank to hold Bitcoin in its reserves has been dropped after advocates failed to secure enough signatures for a national referendum.
• TeraWulf Earnings: Bitcoin miner TeraWulf reported its Q1 2026 results this morning and is hosting an investor call at 8:00 a.m. ET. 

Coinbase Q1 2026 Earnings Brief

• Earnings Miss: Coinbase reported a significant net loss of $394 million ($1.49 per share) for the first quarter, widely missing Wall Street's expectations of a small profit.
• Revenue Decline: Total revenue fell 31% year-over-year to $1.41 billion, primarily driven by a 40% drop in transaction revenue as retail trading volume slumped during the recent crypto bear market.
• Strategic Pivot & AI Layoffs: To offset falling fees, CEO Brian Armstrong announced a 14% workforce reduction (approx. 700 jobs) as the company restructures to become "AI-native". The move aims to cut annual expenses by roughly $500 million.
• Bright Spots: Despite the loss, Coinbase achieved an all-time high market share of 8.6% in global crypto trading. New revenue streams are also scaling quickly, with prediction markets and derivatives each already generating over $100 million in annualized revenue.
• Stablecoin Growth: The company remains a central hub for stablecoins; average USDC balances on the platform hit a record $19 billion, and its Layer 2 network, Base, now handles over 90% of on-chain "agentic" (AI-driven) commerce. 

Stock Reaction

• Market Impact: Following the report, Coinbase stock (COIN) fell roughly 5.6% in early trading today, May 8, currently priced at $186.75. Analysts from Rosenblatt maintained a "Buy" rating, citing long-term growth in the "Everything Exchange" strategy. 

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