Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase reported revenue increased slightly from the previous quarter, capping off a year that saw the exchange’s business model stymied by depressed digital asset prices.
Company sales totaled $605 million in its fourth quarter, beating analyst expectations that anticipated revenue would come in at around $588 million, according to FactSet. The figure represents a near 75% decline compared to the $2.5 billion in revenue Coinbase disclosed for the same period a year ago–when crypto prices were at an all-time high.
The leading cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S. lost $557 million during its final quarter of last year. The company’s performance stretched annual losses for 2022 to $2.6 billion compared to a profit of $3.6 billion in 2021.
The exchange’s trading volume—which Coinbase derives a majority of its revenue from—fell to $145 billion from $547 billion a year ago. After trading volume exploded to $1.67 trillion in 2021 from just $193 billion the year before, Coinbase disclosed it slumped to $830 billion in 2022.
Coinbase also reported the number of monthly transacting users on its platform fell to an annual average of slightly under 9 million from 8.4 million in 2021, a sign that customers were more engaged despite the chills of crypto winter.
It’s no surprise that Coinbase had a challenging quarter given the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX and crypto lender Blocki, Oppenheimer Senior Analyst Owen Lau told Decrypt. Both companies filed for bankruptcy last November, shaking confidence in digital assets as cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin dipped as low as $15,480.
Lau said it’s possible, however, that Coinbase can turn its fortunes around this year and become profitable again if higher crypto prices coincide with a resurgence in trading. He also said that a higher degree
