Crypto
crypto
Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy

Coinbase earnings miss the mark, sending shares lower despite mammoth $2.9 billion deal

Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the US, reported first-quarter earnings today and missed both revenue and earnings-per-share estimates, sending shares lower in the aftermarket.

The company reported Q1 revenue of $2 billion, down 10% quarter over quarter, and earnings per share of $0.24, well below consensus estimates of $2.1 billion and $1.93 EPS, according to FactSet.

Meanwhile, transaction revenue was $1.3 billion, down 19% quarter over quarter.

Earlier today, Coinbase announced the acquisition of Deribit, the world’s biggest trading platform for bitcoin and ethereum options, for a massive $2.9 billion — the biggest crypto deal ever.

Mark Palmer, managing director at Benchmark Equity Research, told Sherwood News that while Coinbase’s subscription and services revenue was a bit light during the quarter, “it feels like we’re picking nits when the company this morning announced the largest deal ever in the digital assets space.”

“The Deribit deal is poised to boost Coinbase both in terms of its international presence and its institutional offering, so a few million less revenue than consensus on the subscription and services line shouldn’t matter in the bigger picture,” he added.

The deal “outshines even Ripple’s Hidden Road acquisition from just two weeks ago,” Nic Puckrin, founder of Coin Bureau, said.

In its shareholder letter, Coinbase also thanked the crypto-friendly administration, citing several milestones like the executive order to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, and said, “Advancements in bipartisan crypto legislation demonstrated progress toward clearer frameworks.”

“The dismissal of the SEC lawsuit against Coinbase marked a major judicial win for balanced, innovation-friendly regulation, and our efforts to make crypto mainstream,” the shareholder letter reads. 

Last month, Benchmark Equity Research initiated coverage of the company, assigning a “buy” rating and a $252 price target, an over 25% premium from current prices.

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Sage D. Young

Payward, parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, puts plans for IPO on hold

Payward, crypto exchange Kraken’s parent company, has paused its plans for an initial public offering until market conditions improve, according to a report from CoinDesk that cited two people with knowledge of the matter. 

Since the firm announced in November its preparation for an IPO of its common stock, the total market capitalization of the crypto industry has shed around $652.2 billion, from $3.2 trillion to $2.5 trillion as of Wednesday, data from CoinGecko shows. 

The news comes two weeks after Kraken received approval for a master account from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, allowing the crypto exchange to connect to the Fed’s payment infrastructure used by traditional banks and credit unions. 

Last year, Kraken raised $800 million at a $20 billion valuation from institutional investors such as Jane Street and Citadel Securities.

Payward, parent of crypto exchange Kraken, has put its IPO plans on hold

Payward, parent of crypto exchange Kraken, has put its IPO plans on hold

The news comes two weeks after Kraken received approval for a master account from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, allowing the crypto exchange to connect to the Fed’s payment infrastructure used by traditional banks and credit unions. 

Last year, Kraken raised $800 million at a $20 billion valuation from institutional investors such as Jane Street and Citadel Securities.

crypto
Sage D. Young

SEC and CFTC issue new guidance on how securities laws apply to crypto assets

On Tuesday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission, together with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, issued an interpretation clarifying how federal securities law applies to crypto assets, a first step toward developing a clearer regulatory framework. 

The interpretive guidance introduces a token taxonomy for different types of cryptocurrencies, with SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins adding that “most crypto assets are not themselves securities.”

Examples of a digital commodity, “a crypto asset that is intrinsically linked to and derives its value from the programmatic operation of a crypto system that is ‘functional,’” include:

The guidance also includes definitions of digital collectibles (such as NFTs), stablecoins, digital tools, and digital securities (such as tokenized real-world assets and stocks).

This is a monumental step in the mainstream adoption of the industry and clears a hurdle in how crypto can operate going forward, according to David Pakman, head of venture investments at CoinFund. “This will allow new token designs with the confidence that their existence does not require registration with the SEC, etc.,” Pakman told Sherwood News.

Despite the clarification efforts from the two organizations, the market capitalization of the crypto industry has dropped about 2% in the last 24 hours as each of the tokens mentioned in the guidance are trading lower in the period, data from CoinGecko shows.

The joint agency action also complements congressional efforts to turn a crypto market structure framework into law. With the goal of providing regulations on the offer and sale of digital commodities, the CLARITY Act passed the House of Representatives last year and is now sitting in the Senate.

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