Coinbase’s third-quarter earnings report came in weaker-than-expected on Wednesday, with the largest U.S. crypto exchange falling short of key profit and revenue expectations. As a result, Coinbase shares dove almost 10% on Thursday, falling to a low of $190.
Investors are dumping shares after revenue on the platform came in at $1.2 billion, falling $60 million short of the $1.26 billion Wall Street analysts expected. The company also missed the earnings-per-share target of 41 cents, reporting just 28 cents per share. Still, the company reported a profit.
These disappointing numbers could be explained by an overall decline in activity on the platform, where Coinbase derives the bulk of its revenue from trading fees. The company reported that total trading volume is down 18% from last quarter and total transaction revenue is down 27%.
Trading volume on the platform has fallen from $312 billion in Q1 to $185 billion in Q3, which the company blames on the U.S. spot market’s overall decline and weak economic conditions. The downtrend was seen across both consumer and institutional users.
“We’ve made a big effort to diversify our revenue over the years away from transaction fee revenue, which is more volatile. It’s not as predictable. It’s more market-dependent,” Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said in a call with shareholders on Wednesday.
Coinbase has made a comeback since last year when the platform’s shares fell to an all-time low of $33 following the turmoil caused by FTX’s collapse.
Transaction revenue is up 98% and total revenue is up 78% from last year with subscriptions, stablecoins, and Base—Coinbase’s Ethereum L2 network—becoming key lines of business for the company.
Base transactions are up 55% this quarter and stablecoin revenue has steadily increased, though at a slower rate in Q3. Armstrong also told shareholders that subscription and service fees are on track to surpass $2 billion by the end of the year.
Coinbase shares often move in step with the price of Bitcoin and the broader crypto market, as higher prices typically signal increased demand and more transaction volume for Coinbase. That was the case in September when the Fed cut interest rates, spurring a Bitcoin rally and Coinbase shares to jump 7% as investors returned to riskier assets like crypto.
The market reaction to Coinbase’s latest earnings, however, show the correlation isn’t perfect, as the company’s share slump comes at a time when Bitcoin has been teasing an all-time high.
On midday Thursday, the original cryptocurrency was trading around $70,500 after surging above $73,000 earlier this week.
