A smartphone with the Coinbase logo and representation of cryptocurrencies are placed on a keyboard in this photo taken June 8, 2023.
Dado Ruvic | Reuters
Coinbase shares fell as first-quarter revenue came in shy of Wall Street’s expectations, despite the growth in stablecoin revenue.
In the quarter ended March 31, Coinbase earned $65.6 million, or 24 cents per share, down from $1.18 billion, or $4.40 a share a year ago. Excluding the impact of crypto investments, Coinbase’s adjusted earnings were $527 million, or $1.94 per share.
Revenue rose to $2.03 billion from $1.64 billion a year ago, but was shy of the $2.12 billion consensus estimate from LSEG.
Revenue from transactions tallied $1.26 billion in the quarter, while subscription and services revenue came in at $698.1 million in the quarter.
The company, which operates the largest cryptocurrency marketplace in the U.S., said consumer trading volume fell 17% from fourth quarter to $78.1 billion. Volume at the end of last year was elevated by the election of President Donald Trump and hopes that he would bring a more favorable regulatory environment.
Institutional trading volume fell 9% from the fourth quarter to $315 billion.
The first quarter saw several positive developments for cryptocurrency, including an all-time high for bitcoin on Jan. 20. However, concerns about Trump’s tariff policy caused a lot of volatility in April, which dampened investor appetite for riskier assets such as crypto.
Coinbase said it generated about $240 million in transaction revenue in April alone.
For the second quarter, Coinbase expects subscription and service revenue in the range of $600 million to $680 million.
Stablecoin revenue growth in the second quarter is likely to be more than offset by lower blockchain rewards due to lower asset prices, the company said.
Earlier Thursday, Coinbase announced plans to buy Dubai-based Deribit, a major crypto derivatives exchange for $2.9 billion. The deal, which is the largest in the crypto industry to date, will help Coinbase broaden its footprint outside the U.S.
In the first quarter, Coinbase said its derivatives business continued to grow market share.
Coinbase stock was down 2% in extended trading. Shares gained 5% in Thursday’s session but are down nearly 17% year to date.
Read Coinbase’s full shareholder letter here.
