Coinbase, and to some degree, Binance, have such a stranglehold on the market that any coin listing on these exchanges immediately causes them to rise anywhere

Coinbase, and to some degree, Binance, have such a stranglehold on the market that any coin listing on these exchanges immediately causes them to rise anywhere from 100-500%. New projects will even tease "Binance listing coming!" to build up hype for their projects. And Binance is still not as selective as Coinbase. A Coinbase listing is a marker of legitimacy for any crypto project. This reputation alone makes Coinbase a very valuable buy.