Coinbase loses half a billion dollars & half a million customers in 3 mos. What signals does it send? 🤔; Mastercard really, really loves crypto ❤️🧡; Bakkt + Apex, or more crypto consolidation 💸

FinTech is Eating the World, 11 November

Hey Everyone,

TGIF! Today’s issue is a perfect one to end up the busy week with. And it’s all about crypto! 🤑 We’re going to look at Coinbase which lost half a billion dollars & half a million customers in just 3 months (what signals does it send & what many are missing), Mastercard which really, really loves crypto (can we already call it the winner in crypto?), and Bakkt buying Apex, or more crypto consolidation (buckle up!). Let’s jump straight into the amazing stuff:

Coinbase loses half a billion dollars and half a million customers in 3 months. What signals does it send? 🤔

Earnings call 📞 Crypto exchange giant Coinbase COIN 0.00%↑ reported another brutal earnings miss in the third quarter of 2022.

More on this 👉 The key numbers:

• The third-quarter revenue came in as $576M, down from $803M in the second quarter and from $1.24B in last year's third quarter. It lost $545M during the quarter.

• It lost $116M on an EBITDA basis in the latest quarter, compared with a loss of $151M in the second quarter and a profit of $618M a year ago.

• Trading volume fell to $159B from $217B in the second quarter and from $547B in last year's fourth quarter.

• User numbers are down 500,000 to 8.5 million.

A downward ride 📉 When you look at the big picture, it’s… well, let’s say it’s not inspiring. Since its stock market debut in April 2021, the exchange's daily volumes have more than halved from an average of around $5B to $2B in October 2022. Over the same period, Coinbase’s share price has plummeted by more than 80%. Ouch 😳

What does this mean? 🤔 At first glance, it certainly doesn’t look great, especially if you’re a shareholder of Coinbase. But is really that bad? And what signal does it send?

Let’s take a look.