Coinbase reported stronger-than-expected third-quarter earnings Thursday, posting $1.9 billion in revenue — up 26% from the previous quarter — as renewed crypto market momentum boosted both trading and stablecoin income.
The San Francisco-based exchange notched $433 million in net profit, or $1.50 per share, surpassing Wall Street expectations of $1.10 per share on $1.8 billion in revenue.
Despite a sequential decline from its record $1.4 billion profit in Q2, Coinbase attributed the drop primarily to non-cash mark-to-market adjustments related to its holdings in Circle and its crypto portfolio.
Shares of Coinbase Global (COIN) jumped more than 4% in after-hours trading to $341 following the results.
The stock is up roughly 33% year-to-date after peaking above $440 in July.
Coinbase also bought almost $300 million in BTC in Q3. CEO Brian Armstrong confirmed via an X post that remains bullish on bitcoin, stating, “Coinbase is long Bitcoin. Our holding increased by 2,772 BTC in Q3. And we keep buying more.”
Coinbase trading activity surges due to crypto rally
The results came as Bitcoin hit fresh all-time highs during the quarter, fueling renewed retail and institutional activity after a quieter Q2 marked by macro headwinds.
Coinbase reported $1.0 billion in transaction revenue, up 37% from the prior quarter and 83% from a year earlier, on trading volumes of $295 billion.
Institutional volume rose 22% sequentially to $236 billion, driven in part by the August acquisition of Deribit, the world’s largest crypto options exchange.
Deribit contributed $52 million in revenue during Q3 as Coinbase expanded its derivatives business to include 24/7 perpetual futures trading in the U.S.
Retail activity also rebounded, with consumer trading volume climbing 37% to $59 billion. Coinbase said new listings and decentralized exchange (DEX) integrations helped boost activity among “advanced traders” the company said, while the company’s platform now supports trading for roughly 90% of all crypto assets by market capitalization.
Subscription and services strengthen
Coinbase continues to diversify beyond trading fees, with subscriptions and services revenue climbing 14% to $747 million.
Stablecoin revenue — largely derived from its role in distributing and managing Circle’s USDC — rose to $355 million, a 43% increase year-over-year. Average USDC balances held in Coinbase products reached a record $15 billion, supported by rising market capitalization and new institutional reward programs.
Blockchain rewards, including staking income, grew 28% quarter-over-quarter to $185 million, aided by surging prices for Ethereum and Solana.
Meanwhile, custodial fees and interest income both hit new highs as total assets on the platform reached $516 billion.
Building toward the “Everything Exchange”
Coinbase said it is progressing toward its vision of an “Everything Exchange” — a platform uniting spot, derivatives, and onchain services under one roof.
The exchange also highlighted ongoing development of Base, its Ethereum layer-2 network, which has become the leading L2 for stablecoin adoption with $4.6 billion in dollar-pegged assets.
CEO Brian Armstrong said Coinbase is scaling payments by ‘advancing stablecoin adoption’ and building the foundation of the future financial system.