Coinbase Revenue Tumbles 28% as Retail Customers Show No Sign of Regaining Interest in Crypto

The Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) digital asset exchange saw transactions and revenue tumble in the third quarter of 2024 as retail customers showed zero sign of regaining interest in all things ‘crypto.’

Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) stock fell sharply on Monday after the cryptocurrency exchange reported a dismal third quarter, with both revenue and transaction volume missing analysts’ expectations.

Coinbase reported total revenue of $1.2 billion for the three months ended September 30, down from $1.45 billion in the second quarter and below the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. The company’s net income came in at $75 million, or $0.25 per share, compared to a net loss of $545 million, or $2.43 per share, in the prior quarter.

The cryptocurrency exchange’s total trading volume also declined significantly during the third quarter, falling to $185 billion from $224 billion in the second quarter. Notably, retail trading volume dropped by 8% during the quarter.

Coinbase’s monthly transacting users also decreased to 7.8 million from 8.2 million in the previous quarter. The company defines monthly transacting users as those who bought or sold cryptocurrency on Coinbase’s platform during the month, including users who passively earned rewards from staking or withdrew cash or tokens from their accounts.

Coinbase shares closed down 3.6% on Monday and fell another 4.8% in after-hours trading after the company’s underwhelming Q3 report. Several analysts expressed unease at the extent to which Coinbase’s trading volume has declined.

Among the trading volume highlights, the Tether (USDT) stablecoin hit 15% of the total, up five points (aka 50%) from Q2. It seems Coinbase is aping its west coast rival Kraken to serve as a fiat off-ramp for Tether whales. That could prove uncomfortable should recent reports of U.S. law enforcement preparing charges against Tether prove accurate.

Coinbase’s ‘other transaction revenue’ category, which includes the company’s Ethereum layer-2 network Base, saw its revenue tumble 35% to $34 million. Coinbase blamed “lower Base sequencer fee revenue” as a reduction in the cost of transaction fees undid a 55% rise in Base’s transaction volume.

Coinbase remains Base’s sole sequencer (transaction processor), despite ongoing promises to welcome other sequencers “over time” and warnings by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin that L2s need to ditch their “training wheels” and decentralize ASAP.

Regardless, Base recently celebrated a couple of milestones, including topping Arbitrum as the L2 with the highest total value locked (TVL). As of October 30, Base’s TVL is around $2.66 billion, while Arbitrum’s is around $2.45 billion. Base also has over 1.2 million daily active addresses, 3x that of Arbitrum.