Leading crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) is set to report a decline in its third-quarter revenue as trading volumes sink amidst regulatory uncertainty ahead of the US elections.
As per FactSet, the Q3 revenue of Coinbase went down 13% to touch $1.26 billion. Contrary to that, in the second quarter, Coinbase has $1.45 billion in revenue. Although the quarterly revenue has declined, the per-share earnings of the crypto exchange rose to $0.46 from $0.14 in Q2. This shows how efficient Coinbase's operation is in spite of the market headwinds.
This comes at a time when trading volumes declined across all crypto exchanges in the third quarter. In Q2 the trading volume in crypto exchanges stood at $3.92 trillion but in Q3 it reduced to $3.3 trillion, a 0.6 trillion decline.
Barclays analyst Benjamin Buddish underlined why this happened when he said that "trading volumes continued to soften through the quarter, and we anticipate results quite a bit below Street expectations, largely due to weaker retail transaction revenues.”
This resulted in Coinbase losing its position as the leading crypto exchange in North America in July, less than 6 months before the US presidential election. Analysts have identified the diverse token offerings in crypto.com as the reason behind Coinbase's sliding position. This shows how the crypto traders’ preferences are changing in the digital asset landscape.
However, the global crypto landscape depicts a contrasting scenario in terms of trading volumes as it declined in the US but rose 61% worldwide in Q3, compared to the last quarter. "We believe the lack of catalysts and U.S. election overhang have negatively impacted bitcoin and domestic trading activity,” said Oppenheimer analyst Owen Lau.
Meanwhile, J.P. Morgan analyst Kenneth Worthington highlighted how Ether’s performance declined 24% this quarter from what it was in Q2, causing the Coinbase revenue to go down. “The cryptocurrency traded between $2,330 and $2,760 since August, significantly lower than Q2's range of $3,503 to $3,368,” said Worthington. This comes at a time when there are reports of Ethereum staking yields droppingto 3%, below its competittors.
However, the crypto exchange stock is still up by 30% on a year-on-year basis even though it's trading below the March peak of $279.71 by 21%. This is attributed to the growth in Coinbase’s subscription and services segment. Analysts think that the higher USDC balances and market cap has offset the revenue decline.
Most crypto analysts are of the opinion that Coinbase will strengthen its position in the near future despite the current subdued trading volumes because of its diverse revenue-generating streams and strong institutional relationships. The main agenda here is effectively navigating the regulatory landscape after the US elections and capitalising on global expansion opportunities.
Most crypto retail investors have cited the reliability of Coinbase for being on the platform despite a decline in trading volumes in terms of liquidity and market depth. Hence, the Q3 earnings report of the crypto exchange will act as a critical indicator of the industry’s health.