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Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the United States by trading volume, just reported its first net loss as a public company in the first quarter of 2022. However, the company’s CEO remains bullish on the firm’s long-term potential.
Coinbase disclosed net revenue of $1.165 billion for the first quarter of 2022. The figure represents a 27 percent drop from the first quarter of 2021's net revenue of $1.597 billion and a 52.3 percent decline from the previous quarter’s (Q4 2021) net revenue of $2,490 billion.
The crypto exchange also reported a net loss of $430 million for the period, its first net loss as a public firm. The company previously reported a net income of $771 million in the first quarter of 2021, $1.606 billion in Q2, $406 million in Q3, and $840 million in the fourth quarter of 2021.
“The first quarter of 2022 continued a trend of both lower crypto asset prices and volatility that began in late 2021,” the crypto exchange said. “These market conditions directly impacted our Q1 results.”
However, Coinbase believes that the market decline is temporary and the crypto exchange is focusing its efforts on developing new products. “We believe these market conditions are not permanent and we remain focused on the long-term,” the company added. “In fact, our investment in our business now is especially critical – these periods of low volatility can provide the opportunity to focus more intently on product development (as opposed to peak periods, when we are more focused in meeting high demand). We approach the opportunities ahead with confidence and steady hands.”
CEO Brian Armstrong explained that the crypto market’s decline is part of the overall decline of the global financial markets. “The broader markets are down,” he said, Cointelegraph reported. “We’re seeing a downmarket for growth tech stocks and risk assets, Coinbase and crypto is no exception to that. The good news is as a crypto company we’ve lived through many different cycles in crypto, including major draw downs, which I think make us well suited to operate through these environments.”
But instead of becoming disheartened, he sees it as an opportunity for the company to better position itself for the next bull run. “There are so many customers beating a path to our door that we have to have all hands on deck just to keep everything running, so the down periods are often sometimes kind of a welcome change from that in the sense that we get to focus on building the next layer of innovation that will benefit us in the next cycle,” Armstrong said.
