Coinbase Global's institutional business doesn't get enough credit. That's the takeaway from BTIG after a meeting with Coinbase Institutional co-CEO Brett Tejpaul, who walked through just how much this segment is contributing to the crypto exchange's growth story.

Analyst Andrew Harte came away convinced. He reaffirmed a Buy rating and a $240 price target on Coinbase Global Inc. (COIN), writing that "the institutional business is an increasingly important contributor to Coinbase's growth."

So what exactly does this division do? Quite a lot, it turns out. It serves a wide range of asset managers, banks, retailers, ETF providers and exchange providers. It accounts for around 20% of total revenue. And it's becoming far more robust than simply offering crypto trading capabilities.

Tejpaul laid out a three-phase roadmap for building the business. Phase 1 was about building a core institutional crypto platform. Phase 2, which is now the key focus, entails extending that infrastructure into payments and stablecoins. Phase 3 is the longer-term vision: expanding into tokenized assets and continuous markets over time.

The payments push is already gaining traction. Harte noted that Coinbase now has more than 200 institutional clients who pay for access to its technology stack via the Coinbase Developer Platform, a model being called crypto-as-a-service. These clients differ from the traditional investment firms Coinbase has historically served. They include fintechs, global banks and payments platforms.

Tejpaul also highlighted several developments that suggest this shift is real. Five of the world's Global Systemically Important Banks, or GSIBs, have onboarded with Coinbase infrastructure. The institutional payments opportunity was opened by GENIUS, which triggered a surge in demand from corporations and enterprises seeking stablecoin payment capabilities. Nonbank payment providers are approaching a "strategic inflection point," and some believe blockchain adoption is important to remain competitive. Large U.S. corporations are revisiting crypto payments.

Then there's the partnership with Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), which Harte described as "a significant proof point for Phase 2." Coinbase is positioning USDC, Base and x402 as the full stack for agentic payments.

Investors, however, weren't feeling the optimism on Wednesday. Shares of Coinbase Global had declined by 3.04% to $166.88 at the time of publication.