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“If you think of us more like a brokerage, we’d be the 8th largest brokerage today by AUM,” wrote Armstrong.
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Coinbase’s assets under management (AUM) make the cryptocurrency exchange worth more than the 21st largest bank in the United States, showcasing the continued growth of the crypto industry.
Coinbase, the world’s third-largest centralized cryptocurrency exchange (CEX) by trading volume, is holding over $420 billion worth of digital assets on behalf of its users.
The $420 billion AUM would make Coinbase the 21st largest bank in the US, according to Brian Armstrong, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Coinbase.
Armstrong wrote in a Feb. 7 X post:
“If you think of Coinbase like a bank, we now hold about $0.42T in assets for our customers, which would make us the 21st largest bank in the US by total assets, and growing.”
“If you think of us more like a brokerage, we’d be the 8th largest brokerage today by AUM,” added Armstrong.
Brian Armstrong on Coinbase’s AUM. Source: Brian Armstrong
Coinbase’s $420 billion AUM is over three-fold compared to the $112.9 billion worth of assets managed by the New York Community Bancorp (NYCB), which is the 21st largest bank in the US.
The NYCB posted a $260 million quarterly loss for the fourth quarter of 2023, after purchasing the collapsed, crypto-friendly Signature Bank in 2023.
Coinbase Q4, 2024, earnings results. Source: Coinbase
Coinbase posted a $273 million net profit for the same quarter, which marked the first positive income quartet since the fourth quarter of 2021, according to the exchange’s shareholder letter.
Related: Japan asks Apple, Google to remove unregistered crypto exchange apps
Crypto will unite financial services under a “single primary financial account” — Coinbase CEO
More advanced cryptocurrency platforms could consolidate today’s numerous financial services into a single all-in-one neobank in the future.
“With crypto, the line between these categories is blurring,” wrote Armstrong, adding:
“In the updated financial system, you will have a single primary financial account which serves all these functions. A greater [percentage] % of global GDP will run on more efficient crypto rails over time.”
“We’ll have sound money, lower friction transactions, and greater economic freedom for all,” added Armstrong
Related: Bitcoin hinges on $93K support, risks $1.3B liquidation on trade war concerns
However, the industry still needs to remove the most pressing friction points to bolster mainstream adoption, according to Chintan Turakhia, senior director of engineering at Coinbase.
Speaking exclusively to Cointelegraph at EthCC, Turakhia said:
“If our goal is to bring in the next billion users — and let’s start with just 100 million — we have to take all those friction points out.”
Some of the most pressing friction points include setting up a wallet with a complicated seed phase, paying transaction fees and buying blockchain-native tokens to transact on a network.
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This article first appeared at Cointelegraph.com News
