Markets
Coinbase (COIN) trading fees are under pressure as cryptomania comes of age
It’s been a milestone year for digital assets, but the shift to the mainstream is making price swings less violent, diminishing a key attraction for many investors and poised to shake up the growth of the main source of revenue for exchanges like Coinbase Global Inc.
While first-quarter revenues and profits came in above forecasts, consumer trading volume at the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange was $56 billion, compared to a peak of $177 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021 at culmination of the previous cryptocurrency bull run. Bitcoin trading volume, which fuels Coinbase’s trading fee revenue, has remained subdued since the world’s largest cryptocurrency hit all-time highs in March following the introduction of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds.