Coinbase Global, Inc. (COIN)

Coinbase lost $359.5 million in the second quarter of 2026, its third quarterly loss in a row, as net revenue fell to $1.2 billion from $1.4 billion a year earlier 12. Much of the loss came from marking down the crypto it keeps as an investment, a $209.5 million loss in the quarter 2. Customers traded less: consumer spot trading volume fell 38 percent, and monthly transacting users dropped to 7.6 million from 8.7 million 1.

In May the company cut about 700 jobs, some 14 percent of its workforce, to fit costs to the market and to "optimize the Company's operations for the AI era" 4. Subscription and services revenue, chiefly its share of the interest earned on the reserves behind the USDC stablecoin, made up 48 percent of net revenue and softened the fall 13. Prediction markets, contracts that pay out on the outcome of events such as games, reached more than $100 million of yearly revenue at the second quarter's pace, the company said 2.

Third-quarter results are due after the market closes on 29 October 2026 5. In late September the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) registered Coinbase Clearing LLC, the company's own clearing house, for fully collateralized contracts only 6. The broad market-structure bill the industry wanted, the CLARITY Act, failed a Senate cloture vote on 15 September 2026, 50 to 49, short of the 60 votes needed 7.

Coinbase began in May 2012 as Coinbase, Inc., and Coinbase Global, Inc. was formed in 2014 as its holding company 3. In 2018 it partnered with Circle Internet Financial to launch USDC, a stablecoin, a token redeemable one for one for U.S. dollars 3. Its Class A shares were listed on Nasdaq under a registration that took effect on 1 April 2021 3.

The 2021 crypto boom lifted net revenue to $7.4 billion, almost all of it trading fees, and net income to $3.6 billion 8. In 2022 net revenue fell to $3.1 billion and the company lost $2.6 billion 8. The annual report blames high inflation and rising interest rates, the collapse of the LUNA token and the fraud behind the failure of the FTX exchange 8.

Coinbase ended 2022 with 4,510 employees and in January 2023 announced it would cut about 950 of them 8. Net revenue slipped to $2.9 billion in 2023, but subscription and services revenue, mostly from USDC, grew to $1.4 billion, nearly matching trading fees at $1.5 billion 9. The company returned to a small profit of $0.1 billion 9.

In June 2023 the SEC sued Coinbase, claiming it ran an unregistered securities exchange, broker and clearing agency and sold securities through its staking program 10. The case hung over the business until 27 February 2025, when the SEC agreed with Coinbase to dismiss it 12.

In 2024 the SEC approved 11 spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds, and nine of them partnered with Coinbase, mostly to keep their coins in its custody 10. With crypto prices recovering, net revenue rose to $6.3 billion from $2.9 billion and net income reached $2.6 billion 10.

In 2025 net revenue grew to $6.9 billion, led by stablecoin revenue, which rose 48 percent on larger USDC balances 3. Net income fell by about half to $1.3 billion, from $2.6 billion 3. Part of the gap was a data theft: criminals paid support staff outside the United States for customer data, and Coinbase paid $311.2 million in 2025 to reimburse customers and cover legal costs 113.

The company also bought its way into new markets in 2025 3. In August it acquired Deribit, which it calls the global leader in crypto options trading, for $4.3 billion in cash and shares, and in October it bought Echo, an onchain fundraising platform, for $176.0 million 31. In December it moved its incorporation from Delaware to Texas and began offering stocks, futures and prediction markets beside crypto, a step toward what it calls the Everything Exchange 3.

Trading for consumers

The Coinbase app lets people buy and sell crypto, and now stocks, futures and prediction markets, through a Simple screen for beginners and an Advanced one for active traders 3. Coinbase earns a fee or a spread on each trade, and Simple trades cost more than Advanced ones 3. Consumer trading brought in $451.7 million in the second quarter of 2026, down 31 percent from a year earlier, as spot crypto trading shrank 1.

Coinbase One is the consumer subscription, a monthly or annual fee for cheaper trades, USDC rewards and priority support, sold in three tiers: Basic, Preferred and Premium 3. Its credit card, launched in 2025, pays up to 4 percent back in bitcoin on purchases 3.

Exchanges and institutions

Institutions such as hedge funds, asset managers and banks trade through Coinbase Prime, its prime brokerage, which also lends to them 3. Coinbase runs four exchanges: the Coinbase Exchange for spot crypto, the Coinbase International Exchange, the Coinbase Derivatives Exchange and Deribit, the options venue 3. Institutional trading revenue rose 65 percent to $100.1 million in the second quarter, mainly because of Deribit 1.

Stablecoins and USDC

Circle issues USDC and pays Coinbase a share of the income on the reserves behind it: the more USDC in circulation, and the more of it held on Coinbase, the more Coinbase earns 3. Stablecoin revenue was $292.1 million in the second quarter, down 5 percent, as lower interest rates outweighed larger balances 1. To draw balances onto its platform, Coinbase pays USDC rewards to Coinbase One members and institutions 3.

Staking, custody and lending

Staking lets customers lock coins such as Ethereum and Solana to help run those networks; Coinbase keeps a commission on the rewards 3. Those blockchain rewards fell 42 percent to $83.3 million in the second quarter on lower Solana prices and lower reward rates 1. Customers held $245.9 billion of crypto on the platform at the end of June 2026, down from $425.0 billion a year earlier 1.

Custody, the safekeeping of crypto for a fee, serves several bitcoin and ether funds, and Coinbase calls itself their primary custodian 32. Most of the assets that left the platform in the second quarter left with those funds, the company said 2.

Base and onchain products

Base is a blockchain Coinbase built on top of Ethereum for fast, cheap transactions, and Coinbase earns a fee on each transaction it processes 3. The Base App, formerly Coinbase Wallet, is a wallet whose keys stay with the user 3. In August 2026 Base began carrying tokens backed one for one by Apple, Nvidia, Meta and Alphabet shares, for eligible users outside the United States only, Opalesque reported 22.

Where it works and who runs it

Coinbase calls itself remote-first and keeps no headquarters, only offices for meetings in some cities 3. It had 4,951 employees at the end of 2025, before the May 2026 cut of about 700 34.

Brian Armstrong co-founded the company and has been chief executive since May 2012 and chairman since February 2021 13. Emilie Choi has been chief operating officer since June 2019 and president since November 2020, and Alesia Haas is finance chief 134. This year the chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, left on 31 July and the chief people officer stepped down in August 1516.

Molly Abraham became general counsel and Dominique Baillet was named to lead people 1516. The chief accounting officer, Jennifer Jones, said on 29 September she would retire once a successor is found 18. On 1 September the board grew to ten seats with Anthony Armstrong, who has no family tie to the chief executive 17.

Rivals

The annual report names its rivals by kind: banks and fintech firms, other crypto exchanges including ones that operate outside local rules, decentralized platforms, and stablecoins other than USDC 3. Kraken's parent, Payward, bought Bitnomial in May 2026, gaining its own regulated exchange, clearing house and futures broker, as Coinbase now has 6.

Problems

Several state securities regulators acted against its staking service in June 2023, and customers in some states still cannot stake new funds 3. The company also reports subpoenas from regulators about asset listings, staking and its stablecoin and yield products 3. With the CLARITY Act stalled, its federal rules now come mostly from agency action, not a law 7.

The umbrella, in words

Coinbase Global's main asset is Coinbase, Inc.; the subsidiaries exhibit lists twelve, among them Coinbase Custody Trust Company in New York, Coinbase Financial Markets, the futures broker, and Coinbase Luxembourg for Europe 314. It owns Deribit and Echo outright, bought in 2025 31. Coinbase Clearing LLC, its new clearing house, completes an exchange, broker and clearing chain 6.

Coinbase owns a stake in Circle, received in 2023 for its 50 percent share of the USDC consortium, then 3.5 percent of Circle's diluted equity 9. It sold part of that stake in Circle's June 2025 listing and more in early 2026 31.

Control sits with the founder: each Class B share carries 20 votes and each Class A share one 3. Brian Armstrong held 49.6 percent of the total vote at 31 March 2026, and trusts he set up, run by an independent trustee, another 18.9 percent 13. BlackRock reported 6.6 percent of the Class A shares 13.

Coinbase publishes its third-quarter 2026 results on 29 October and takes questions on X that afternoon at 2:00 Pacific time 5. For the third quarter it guided subscription and services revenue to $500 million to $580 million 2. It said transaction revenue was about $130 million in the quarter through 26 July, and warned against extending that figure 2.

For the full year 2026, the company expects its technology, administrative and marketing costs, before amortization, to come in slightly higher than in 2025, driven by USDC rewards 1. The company said in May that the job cuts aim to fit costs to the market and the AI era 4.

The company plans to use Coinbase Clearing to create and settle fully collateralized contracts directly and to bring new regulated products to market 23. It said it will keep using partners for its margined derivatives and its upcoming single stock perps, futures with no expiry date 2319.

Coinbase Derivatives filed with the CFTC in September 2026 to list single stock perpetual futures in the United States, and the contracts await approval 19. The Wall Street Journal reported a first list of roughly 50 to 60 stocks, as Cointelegraph relayed 19. Coinbase Derivatives also filed on 1 September to register as a national securities exchange for security futures 19.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency gave conditional approval in April 2026 to a Coinbase national trust company for its custody business, Banking Dive reported 20. Final approval is pending, and Coinbase said it will not take retail deposits 20.

Paul Grewal advises the company until 31 October 2026 and Lawrence Brock until 30 November 2026, under their advisor agreements 1516. A search for a new chief accounting officer is under way 18. The next annual meeting comes in 2027, when the directors' one-year terms end 24.