Coinbase Returns to Profitability After Crypto Market Rebound

02/16/2024 05:07
Coinbase Returns to Profitability After Crypto Market Rebound

(Bloomberg) -- Coinbase Global Inc. posted a profit for the first time in two years after a fourth-quarter rebound in digital-asset markets lifted trading revenue at the largest US cryptocurrency exchange. Most Read from BloombergJapan Loses Its Spot as World's Third-Largest Economy as It Slips Into RecessionPutin Steps Into US Race to Back ‘Old-Style’ Biden Over TrumpDozens of Banks Rapidly Piled Up Commercial Property LoansHawaii Rightly Rejects Supreme Court’s Gun NonsenseTrump Eyes NATO Make

(Bloomberg) — Coinbase Global Inc. posted a profit for the first time in two years after a fourth-quarter rebound in digital-asset markets lifted trading revenue at the largest US cryptocurrency exchange.

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Revenue surged 51% to $953.8 million, topping the $826 million average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Net income was $273 million, or $1.04 a share, compared with a loss of $557 million, or $2.46, a year earlier, Coinbase said in a shareholder letter Thursday. Analysts had forecast a loss. Consumer transaction revenue jumped to $492.5 million, nearly doubled from the third quarter, while institutional transaction revenue more than doubled quarter-over-quarter to $36.7 million.

Wall Street has been watching Coinbase for signs that the array of newly launched US exchange-traded funds investing directly into Bitcoin may cannibalize some of Coinbase’s retail revenue. The exchange makes more money off retail users than from institutions.

Investors are also watching the impact of the ETFs on Coinbase’s custodial fee revenue, which increased to $19.7 million in the fourth quarter. Coinbase serves as a custodian for eight of the 10 spot Bitcoin ETFs, and as these funds gain funds, should benefit from growth in these fees.

Coinbase’s shares rose about 6% in after-hours trading. The stock surged almost fivefold last year. The price is still less than half the record high set in 2021.

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