- Coinbase's revenue and net income fell in the first quarter.
- XRP outperformed Ethereum and Solana on the exchange.
Chances are, Coinbase investors knew the first quarter was going to be lacklustre. Bitcoin, after all, skidded 11% in the period.
Sure enough, retail crypto trading at Coinbase, the top US exchange, 17% in the first three months of the year, to $78 billion, according to the company’s earnings report.
Moreover, Coinbase’s top line slumped 10%, to $2 billion, compared with the same period last year. And its net income fell 94%, to $66 million.
Good news
No surprise, Coinbase shares slipped 6% on Friday as tech stocks across the board had a down day.
But here’s the good news — XRP pumped on the listed exchange during the quarter.
Coinbase earned more in transaction revenue from XRP than from Ethereum or Solana.
Data from its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission shows a 458% surge in the value of XRP held on Coinbase in the last year.
The earnings from XRP, which accounted for 18% of its consumer trading revenue, were almost that of the other two cryptocurrencies combined.
A welcome surge
Only Bitcoin delivered more revenue than XRP for Coinbase last quarter.
While that datapoint says more about XRP and its steward, Ripple, than it does about Coinbase, investors will probably welcome the surge.
Indeed, the revenue figures for XRP on Coinbase are even more notable considering the exchange suspended trading of the Ripple-linked cryptocurrency for two years ending in July 2023.
Coinbase relisted XRP after a summary ruling that Ripple’s sale of XRP through crypto exchanges did not violate securities laws.
XRP also accounted for the biggest increase in crypto deposits on Coinbase in the last year.
Bitcoin and Ethereum led the company’s crypto stockpile growth between the end of last year and the first quarter.
Coinbase’s Bitcoin holdings increased during the period by 35%, while the exchange now holds $250 million worth of Ethereum.
Still, the uptick in crypto deposits was not enough to shore up Coinbase’s net income. The slump was largely driven by almost $600 million in unrealised losses on its cryptocurrency holdings.
The poor performance last quarter isn’t unique to Coinbase.
The crypto market cratered last quarter amid a broader global financial slump triggered by US President Donald Trump’s tariff bazooka.
Robinhood, one ofCoinbase’s rivals in the retail crypto trading market, also saw a revenue decline last quarter as trading volume slumped to $46 billion, from $71 billion at the end of 2024.
Like Coinbase, Robinhood also had a banner close out of 2024 due to the crypto trading frenzy that followed Trump’s election victory.
Even its CEO, Vlad Tenev, said crypto’s hair-trigger volatility meant the company was exploring options to diversify its business beyond cryptocurrencies.
Osato Avan-Nomayo is our Nigeria-based DeFi correspondent. He covers DeFi and tech. Got a tip? Please contact him at osato@dlnews.com.
