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Trading activity has surged since the November US elections, a good sign for crypto exchanges.
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Digital asset researcher Coin Metrics predicts crypto exchange Coinbase will report approximately $2 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter of 2024.
If correct, this will mark an increase of 109% year-over-year and 65% quarter-over-quarter for Coinbase, Coin Metrics said in a Feb. 11 report. Coinbase’s Q4 2024 earnings report is scheduled for Feb. 13.
The report said Coinbase’s trading volumes hit roughly $430 billion in Q4 2024, the highest since 2021. The rise was “fueled by renewed market optimism post-U.S. election,” it said.
On Feb. 10, crypto researcher Kaiko said Coinbase saw weekly trading volumes tap their highest levels in two years during the fourth quarter of 2024. It also projected bullish Q4 2024 earnings for the exchange.
Several other major players in crypto are reporting earnings during the week of Feb. 10, including Bitcoin miners Hive Digital and Hut 8, as well as exchanges CME Group and Robinhood.
Coinbase quarterly trading volumes. Source: Coin Metrics
Related: Post-election trading surge bullish for Coinbase earnings: Kaiko
Trading resurgence
Crypto trading activity spiked across exchanges after US President Donald Trump prevailed in the November elections. Trump has promised to make America “the world’s crypto capital.”
On Nov. 5, crypto trading firm Galaxy Digital clocked the biggest trading day of the year as Trump’s victory sparked a surge of interest in crypto.
Shares of Coinbase’s stock, COIN, are up roughly 40% since Trump’s Nov. 5 win in the US presidential race, according to data from Google Finance.
Other revenue sources
Meanwhile, the supply of the US dollar-pegged stablecoin USD Coin (USDC) on Coinbase grew by approximately 23%, likely boosting the exchange’s stablecoin revenue, Coin Metrics said.
Growth in USDC supply reflects increased onchain activity as well as Coinbase’s efforts to promote the stablecoin, including by offering some 4.5% interest on certain USDC holdings.
Continued adoption of stablecoins and cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds will propel digital asset performance in 2025, according to a Dec. 26 Citi research report.
Coinbase also earns hundreds of millions of dollars each quarter from support staking cryptocurrencies such as Ether (ETH) and SOL (SOL), Coin Metrics said.
Staking involves locking up crypto as collateral with a validator on a blockchain network. Stakers earn payouts from network fees and other rewards but risk “slashing” — or losing collateral — if the validator misbehaves.
Magazine: Stablecoin for cyber-scammers launches, Sony L2 drama: Asia Express
This article first appeared at Cointelegraph.com News
