America’s leading crypto exchange said Thursday that sales jumped to $1.6 billion in the first quarter of this year as transaction revenue doubled over the prior three months.

Coinbase’s first-quarter revenue is up big compared to $772 million over the same period year ago, the $1.6 billion bottom line exceeding analyst expectations of $1.3 billion. The San Francisco-based company also reported earnings of $4.40 per share, coming in well above Wall Street expectations of $0.90. 

Coinbase’s transaction revenue jumped to $1.1 billion in the first quarter from $374 million a year ago—doubling transaction revenue of $523 million in the fourth quarter of last year.

Coinbase said in a letter to shareholders that its platform saw “revitalized trading activity among customers acquired prior to 2023” alongside growth in new users—including institutional traders. 

Coinbase turned green last year in the final quarter when it reported a profit of $273.4 million, compared with a loss of $557 million in the same quarter in 2022. A year ago, the company posted a quarterly loss of $79 million as crypto markets languished in the aftermath of FTX.

The exchange said in February that it strengthened its balance sheet by reducing debt by $413 million, and its business of allowing customers to earn interest on its USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin helped the company net bigger gains. 

Interest in the exchange’s stablecoin services increased this year, too: Coinbase said that revenue from the crypto product increased 15% this quarter from the last to $197 million. It added in its shareholder letter that USDC has been the fastest-growing stablecoin in 2024. 

Stablecoins are digital tokens pegged to a stable asset—usually dollars. Coinbase allows its customers to earn interest on such cryptocurrencies. The company refers to these as blockchain rewards. Revenue from Coinbase users staking crypto came in at $151 million, more than double compared to a year ago.

The rise in the price of cryptocurrencies following the January approval of 11 spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) also helped Coinbase make money. The price of Bitcoin has rallied this year and touched a new all-time high of $73,747 in March. It was trading for a little over $44,000 at the beginning of the year. 

Coinbase has partnered with most major asset managers that dropped a Bitcoin ETF, providing custody services. In effect, Coinbase said the ETFs’ approvals “unlocked a flywheel of customer engagement across [a] more robust product suite.”

Coinbase’s shares rallied 8% Thursday to $230 per share, Nasdaq data shows. But the company’s stock price fell in after-hours trading to around $224 per share following the company’s earnings release.

Edited by Ryan Ozawa.

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• Source: https://decrypt.co/229217/coinbase-first-quarter-profit-report