Cantor Equity Partners II stock gains as Citron says Coinbase fears tokenization rival

Cantor Equity Partners II (CEPT), the special-purpose vehicle set to take tokenization firm Securitize public early this year, saw its stock rise Thursday after Citron Research backed the firm and criticized Coinbase (COIN) for withdrawing support for crypto market structure legislation.

"Coinbase wants the benefits of CLARITY without the competition it would create," wrote Citron, led by Andrew Left. "[Coinbase isn't] pushing back because the bill is bad for crypto — they're pushing back because a cleaner version might be better for Securitize than for them."

Securitize, which has issued over $4 billion in tokenized assets and holds the licenses needed to offer tokenized securities, stands to gain if clearer rules are passed, Citron argued. Coinbase, by contrast, would face direct competition.

Citron framed the moment as a power struggle between Coinbase and a rising set of Wall Street players. "Armstrong vs. BlackRock and Trump," the post said, pointing to Securitize’s powerful backers, including BlackRock, one of the world’s largest asset managers. Interestingly, Coinbase Ventures, Coinbase's venture arm, is also among Securitize's early investors, participating in the then-startup’s 2018 fundraising round.

Coinbase pulled back support for the bill late on Wednesday, citing that it would "de facto ban" tokenized equities, among other reasons. Later, the Senate Banking Committee cancelled the markup on the crypto market structure scheduled for Thursday.

CEPT shares climbed as much as 10% following Citron's endorsement, but have since pulled back to a 2.2% gain. Coinbase's stock, meanwhile, is down almost 4% on Thursday.

Read more: Tokenization firm Securitize aims for public listing via SPAC deal at $1.25 billion valuation