Coinbase earnings fall short of estimates as trading volumes sag

Investing.com — Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) reported third-quarter earnings that fell short of Wall Street estimates as weakness in cryptocurrencies during the quarter kept a lid on trading volumes.

Shares in the cryptocurrency exchange fell in premarket US trading on Thursday in the wake of the report.

Coinbase posted second-quarter earnings per share (EPS) of $0.28 on revenue of $1.2 billion, compared with Wall Street expectations for EPS of $0.45 on revenue of $1.25 billion.

The miss comes as trading volume was hit by weakness in digital token markets, with the total crypto market cap dropping 10% sequentially in the third quarter.

Total trading volume in the US spot market, which accounts for the bulk of Coinbase’s revenue, declined 18% quarter-on-quarter. This pressured transaction revenue, which was down by 27% from the previous quarter to $573 million.

However, analysts at Canaccord Genuity noted that the company continued to expand its business through new revenue sources, including custodial services.

Coinbase said the amount it collected from fees related to acting as custodian for several recently-launched spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds rose by $31.7 million from $15.8 million last year. The increase reflected an uptick in inflows into these funds.

Meanwhile, Coinbase Chief Executive Officer Brian Armstrong delivered an upbeat prediction for more regulatory clarity in the crypto industry heading into the all-important US presidential election on Nov. 5. Both Republican Party candidate Donald Trump and Democratic rival Kamala Harris are “now courting the crypto voter in their statement,” Armstrong said.

Regardless of the outcome of the ballot, he added that Coinbase expects to see the “most pro-crypto” US Congress “ever” following the vote.