Detailed explanation of Coinbase's latest financial report: The annual revenue in 2024 was nearly US$6.6 billion, and the largest quarterly revenue in three years was achieved in Q4

Comprehensive editor: Felix, PANews

Coinbase announced its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings on February 13 local time. Thanks to a strong rebound after the election, cryptocurrency prices hit new highs at the end of last year, Coinbase performed better than expected in the fourth quarter, achieving its largest quarterly revenue in three years.

Coinbase reported earnings per share of $4.68, more than double analysts’ expectations of $2.11, with fourth-quarter profit reaching $1.3 billion.

In after-hours trading, Coinbase shares rose 2% to around $304, with shares rising 112% over the past year. This article will take you to quickly view all the key data in Coinbase’s financial report.

Revenue doubled in 2024, and contributed **more than 30% of

revenue** in Q4

2024 was a strong year for cryptocurrency and Coinbase, with full-year revenue more than doubled to $6.564 billion, net revenue of $2.6 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $3.3 billion. Among them, revenue in the fourth quarter reached US$2.27 billion, an increase of 88% month-on-month.

On the product side, Coinbase gained market share in US spot and derivatives trading products in 2024, and added custodial, pledged and USDC assets to its product suite, which helped drive revenue diversification. In addition, Coinbase further promotes product adoption for Base, Coinbase One, Prime Financing and international expansion.

Transaction income

Trading revenue for the whole year of 2024 was US$4 billion, a year-on-year increase of 162%; the total trading volume was US$1.2 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 148%. Among them, retail trading volume was US$221 billion, an increase of 195% year-on-year; institutional trading volume was US$941.2 billion, an increase of 139% year-on-year. In the fourth quarter, Coinbase's transaction revenue reached US$1.6 billion, a month-on-month increase of 172%; transaction volume was US$439 billion, a year-on-year increase of 185%.

Most of the year-on-year increase in Coinbase's trading volume in 2024 is due to rising crypto assets' volatility levels (especially in the first and fourth quarters) and rising average crypto assets prices. The two main factors that underpin these stronger macroeconomic factors are the launch of Bitcoin ETF products in the first quarter of 2024, and the election of presidents and congresses supporting cryptocurrencies in the fourth quarter of 2024 and the relevant regulatory clarity expectations. All have led to an increase in spot crypto trading activity.

In addition, Coinbase's share in the U.S. spot market increased in 2024. In terms of spot products, Coinase has added initial public offerings (i.e. the first centralized exchange to launch tokens for trading and custody), and has added 48 new spot trading assets.

Not only that, Coinbase also successfully expanded its derivatives business in 2024. For example, 92 new assets have been added to international exchanges for trading. Although it is still in its early stages, retail and institutional derivatives trading volume and market share both hit record highs in the fourth quarter.

Retail trading income

In the fourth quarter, retail trading volume was US$94 billion, a month-on-month increase of 176%, far exceeding the US spot market, which had a month-on-month increase of 126%. Retail trading revenue for the quarter was US$1.3 billion, a month-on-month increase of 179%. This may be related to the launch of 13 new assets by Coinbase in the fourth quarter, including popular memecoins such as PEPE and WlF. All in all, these efforts (plus market conditions) drove MTU to grow by 24% month-on-month.

Institutional transaction income

Institutional trading volume in the fourth quarter was US$345 billion, a month-on-month increase of 128%, outperforming the US spot market. Institutional transaction revenue for the quarter was US$141 million, a 156% increase from the previous quarter. The fourth quarter performance was strong, with exchanges and Prime's revenue growth significantly month-on-month. In addition to strong market conditions, institutional business is also developing strongly.

Other transaction income

Other transaction revenue in the fourth quarter was $68 million, a 99% increase from the previous quarter, mainly due to the increase in the Sorter revenue of Base. The number of transactions continued to grow month-on-month and revenue per transaction was higher due to increased network demand and higher ETH prices in the fourth quarter. The average cost per transaction is still below the $0.01 target.

Subscription and service revenue

Subscription and service revenue in 2024 was US$2.3 billion, up 64% year-on-year, about 4.5 times higher than the 2021 bull market level. Most of the year-on-year growth in 2024 came from blockchain reward revenue, stablecoin revenue and Coinbase One subscription revenue.

Subscription and service revenue in the fourth quarter was US$641 million, a 15% increase from the previous quarter. Stablecoin revenue fell 9% month-on-month to $226 million, but increased 31% year-on-year to $910 million. Overall, USDC is the fastest growing "major" stablecoin in 2024. The driving force behind stablecoin revenue in the fourth quarter was the substantial increase in USDC’s average market cap and USDC assets in the product suite.

Blockchain reward revenue in the fourth quarter was US$215 million, a month-on-month increase of 39%. The driving force behind the growth comes from rising crypto asset prices, rising average protocol reward rates (especially SOLs), and the continued inflow of native assets.

The fourth quarter interest and financing expense revenue was US$66 million, a 3% increase from the previous quarter. The growth was mainly from the Prime Financing business, which hit record loan balances after the U.S. election in early November. The growth in loan volumes is driven by the increase in trade financing activities related to ETF products and the increased utilization of bilateral loan products. The increase in Prime Financing fees was partially offset by a decline in revenue from client custody fiat currency balances, as the average balance increased by 7% month-on-month to $5.1 billion, but the decline in real interest rates offset the increase.

The fourth quarter custody fee revenue was US$43 million, a 36% increase from the previous quarter. The driving force behind the rise in crypto asset prices and the continued growth in the number of custodials. BTC inflows are the biggest driver of growth, thanks to Coinbase’s role as the main custodian of the vast majority of ETFs, as well as other customer activities. It also benefits from the first-day release plan in the fourth quarter. As of the fourth quarter, custodial assets (“AUC”) were $220 billion, which is part of the platform’s total assets.

Other subscription and services revenue was US$91 million, a 56% increase from the previous quarter. Coinbase One is the biggest driver of month-on-month growth.

Full-year operating expenses of $ 4.3 **billion, trading and

marketing costs rise**

Total operating expenses in 2024 were USD 4.3 billion, up 30% year-on-year to USD 1 billion. Technology and development, general and administrative, and sales and marketing expenses increased by 25% year-on-year to US$692 million. The growth is mainly due to increased spending in variable sectors, especially USDC incentives and marketing expenses and higher stock compensation and policy expenses, as the cryptocurrency publicity is increased. It had 3,772 full-time employees at the end of the year, up 10% year-on-year.

Total operating expenses in the fourth quarter were USD 1.2 billion, up 19% month-on-month to USD 202 million, mainly due to increased transaction fees. Technology and development, general and administrative, and sales and marketing expenses increased by $84 million, or 10% month-on-month, mainly due to performance marketing spending, higher USDC rewards (due to a significant increase in USDC assets in the product suite) and policy-related expenditures.

The fourth quarter transaction fees were US$317 million, accounting for 14% of net income, an increase of 85% month-on-month. The month-on-month growth is mainly due to the increase in transaction volume, blockchain reward fees and blockchain transaction fees (mainly BTC and ETH).

Technology and development expenses were US$369 million, down 2% month-on-month. The decrease was due to a decrease in staff-related expenses, but the increase in professional services-related expenditure partially offset the decrease.

General and administrative expenses were US$363 million, up 10% month-on-month. The driving force behind growth is customer-supported investments, which are related to a strong market environment in the fourth quarter, with increased legal-related expenses and policy-related expenses.

Sales and marketing expenses were US$226 million, up 37% month-on-month. Support the fourth quarter market momentum by increasing variable performance marketing spending and promotions to drive user acquisition and revenue growth in the U.S. and internationally. As USDC assets in the product suite increased, USDC rewards also increased by 29% month-on-month to $80 million.

In addition, in terms of shares, Coinbase's total diluted shares at the end of the fourth quarter was 286.5 million shares. The figure includes 253.6 million common shares and 32.9 million diluted shares.

In terms of capital and liquidity, at the end of the fourth quarter, the US dollar resources were $9.3 billion, and the US dollar resources were defined as cash and cash equivalents and USDC (deducting USDs loaned or pledged as collateral). US dollar resources grew 13% month-on-month to US$1.1 billion.

This year , it has achieved transaction revenue of US$

750 million, and will continue to promote revenue diversification

As of February 11, Coinbase has generated approximately $750 million in transaction revenue this year. Coinbase said it is working to diversify revenue sources and no longer rely solely on transactions. Judging from last year's financial report, Coinbase's trading revenue accounted for 68.5% of its total revenue as of the fourth quarter, most of which came from retail traders.

Revenues for its subscription and services business, including stablecoins, staking, custodial and Coinbase One products, are expected to be between $685 million and $765 million in the quarter.

Coinbase also expects USDC stablecoin, which is issued by Circle and entered into a revenue share agreement with Coinbase, to drive quarter-on-quarter growth in sales and marketing expenses in the first quarter.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said on the earnings call that the company has "a grand goal to make USDC the number one stablecoin".

Transaction fees as a percentage of net income are expected to reach medium and high levels. Technology and development and general and administrative expenses are expected to be between US$750 million and US$800 million. In addition, payroll taxes are expected to rise quarter by quarter due to seasonal factors. Net profit growth is expected to be slightly higher than in the fourth quarter.

Sales and marketing expenses are expected to be between $235 million and $375 million in the first quarter of 2025. Since the mid-Q4 period, marketing opportunities that meet or exceed the ROI threshold have increased significantly in the old and new paid marketing channels in the U.S. and major international markets. Nevertheless, daily spending on performance marketing varied significantly in the first quarter due to the continued fluctuation in crypto market conditions. Therefore, the range of potential results in the first quarter is expected to be much larger than in previous periods. Whether it is within this range depends largely on

• Whether to continue to see attractive performance marketing opportunities for the remainder of the first quarter, which have historically been closely related to market volatility and asset prices
• USDC assets in the product suite that drive USDC rewards. For reference, this accounted for about 35% of sales and marketing expenses in the fourth quarter

Related reading: Coinbase report: 2025 crypto market full track prospect