Coinbase reported a net loss of $394.1 million in Q1, and the CEO seeks to reduce reliance on the spot cryptocurrency trading business

Coinbase released its first-quarter financial report, recording a net loss of $394.1 million, due to a significant drop in cryptocurrency prices during this period, resulting in substantial losses on the digital assets held on the exchange's balance sheet. The company reported a loss of $482 million on crypto assets held for investment purposes.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong remains optimistic, stating that "all finance" will eventually move on-chain, and the company is built to capture this transformation. Armstrong said, "Despite the downturn in the crypto market, the fundamental growth of the on-chain economy remains strong." He also mentioned that Coinbase is transitioning from a "spot-focused crypto platform" to a platform where users can trade a variety of asset classes, including derivatives, commodities, futures, and contracts for predicting market events.

In the first quarter of 2025, Coinbase (COIN) recorded a net profit of $66 million. The latest quarter marks Coinbase's second consecutive quarter of net losses, with the previous quarter recording a net loss of $667 million. Coinbase's total revenue for the first quarter of 2026 was $1.41 billion, a 31% decrease compared to the same period in 2025; trading revenue fell 40% year-on-year to $756 million; subscription and services revenue saw a smaller decline, down 14% to $584 million. The first quarter experienced significant volatility in crypto prices, with the market heavily selling off, causing Bitcoin to drop from over $97,000 in January to around $63,000 in early February. By the end of the period, BTC remained below $70,000, dragging down the entire crypto market.

Coinbase attempted to downplay the quarterly losses and revenue decline by highlighting some achievements during the quarter, including its global crypto trading market share reaching 8.6%. The company also recorded an adjusted EBITDA of $303 million, down from $930 million in the first quarter of 2025. According to Yahoo Finance, the company's stock price fell about 6% in after-hours trading, to $182 per share.