Coinbase Shocks Wall Street with $1B in Transaction Revenue! Here’s Why You Should Care

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Markets

What to know:

  • Coinbase reported a whopping $1.9 billion in Q3 revenue-up 58% from last year, thanks to a nice rebound in asset prices and trading activity.
  • Transaction revenue, which is the real bread and butter of Coinbase, shot up more than double from last year, hitting a cool $1.0 billion. Oh, and EBITDA? A healthy $801 million.
  • And guess what? Coinbase’s Layer 2 blockchain, Base, is now officially profitable, thanks to increased usage and a rise in ETH prices. So much for the skeptics!

Well, well, well, looks like Coinbase (COIN) has surprised everyone with a third-quarter performance so good, it’s got Wall Street doing a double-take. This wasn’t just some lucky break either; it was driven by a surge in trading activity, a comeback in asset prices, and-wait for it-growth in their subscription and services business. The U.S.-based exchange proudly reported a total revenue of $1.9 billion. That’s a sweet 58% jump from the $1.2 billion last year, and it beats the $1.8 billion that so-called “experts” had predicted.

And, of course, shares went up by a modest 1.5% in post-market trading. But hold your horses! Coinbase had to remind everyone to curb their enthusiasm for the future, warning investors not to get too comfortable. Why? Oh, the good old crypto market volatility, of course. They expect October transaction revenue to sit around $385 million and Q4 subscription revenue to be somewhere between $710 million and $790 million. Let’s just say, hold on to your hats, folks!

Now, the crown jewel-transaction revenue. Coinbase’s bread and butter. This little beauty soared to $1 billion, which is more than double what it was just last year ($573 million). Trading volumes? A staggering $295 billion, courtesy of a renewed crypto interest, particularly from retail users. And guess what? Retail traders got busy, with trading volume among them growing by 37% from the last quarter. Nice job, everyone!

Adjusted EBITDA? Well, that came in at a solid $801 million, up from $449 million in Q3 2024. That’s one heck of a bump, reflecting better business profitability and a rather impressive control of operating expenses (down by 9% from the previous quarter). Oh, and net income? A tidy $433 million.

Coinbase didn’t stop there, though. Oh no, it kept rolling with growth across both its consumer and institutional trading segments. Institutional transaction revenue more than doubled to $135 million, partly thanks to the acquisition of crypto options platform Deribit. That little deal brought in $52 million after the August closing. Meanwhile, consumer transaction revenue reached $844 million, up 30% from Q2. This growth was fueled by higher volumes in long-tail assets and a growing base of advanced traders. Looks like the crypto train is chugging along!

In a letter to shareholders, Coinbase said: “Q3 was a strong quarter for Coinbase. We drove solid financial results, maintained focus on shipping innovative products, and continued building the foundation of the Everything Exchange.” What’s that? A humble brag? I think so! But, hey, who can blame them?

Meanwhile, subscription and services revenue climbed 14% quarter-over-quarter to $747 million. A good chunk of that came from stablecoin-related revenue, which hit $355 million, as average USDC balances on Coinbase hit a new record of over $15 billion. Blockchain rewards revenue also jumped 28% to $185 million as ether and solana prices went on their merry way up.

Oh, and here’s a fun tidbit: Coinbase confirmed that its Layer 2 network, Base, is now officially profitable. A combination of more transactions and higher ethereum prices helped revenue from Base rise in Q3. Sure, lower per-transaction fees put a bit of a damper on things, but still, Coinbase believes Base’s speed and low costs make it the “trusted network of choice” for developers and enterprises. Good for them!

To top it all off, Coinbase closed the quarter with a hefty $11.9 billion in USD resources, boosted by a $3 billion convertible debt raise and some solid cash flow from operations. If that doesn’t scream “We’re here to stay,” I don’t know what does.

UPDATE (October 30, 2025, 20:51 UTC): Adds details from the Coinbase letter.

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2025-10-31 00:45