Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN) moved to a quarterly loss in the first quarter of 2026 and reported revenue below Wall Street expectations, pressuring the cryptocurrency exchange’s shares in premarket trading Friday.
Class A shares of Coinbase were down 2.2% before the opening bell.
The company reported a loss of $1.49 per share for the quarter, compared with earnings of $0.24 per share during the same period last year. On a sequential basis, however, the loss improved from the $2.49 per share recorded in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Revenue totaled $1.41 billion, missing analyst expectations of $1.56 billion.
Crypto market downturn weighs on performance
Coinbase’s results came during a difficult period for the digital asset market, as cryptocurrencies experienced sharp declines during the first three months of 2026.
After rallying strongly in 2025 following support for digital assets from President Donald Trump, the crypto sector faced renewed pressure after an October “flash crash,” which continued to weigh on sentiment into early 2026.
Total cryptocurrency market capitalization declined 23.1% during the first quarter, while Bitcoin fell 22.1% over the same period.
“We executed well on what was in our control in Q1,” Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said in a statement.
“The market environment this quarter was softer, but the underlying fundamentals of our business remain strong,” added Chief Financial Officer Alesia Haas.
Trading market share improves despite lower asset values
Coinbase said it increased its share of crypto trading volume during the quarter even as digital asset prices weakened.
However, crypto assets held on the platform declined 10.4% year over year and 21.8% from the previous quarter to $294 billion during Q1.
At the same time, derivatives trading volume surged 169% from a year earlier, supported by growing adoption among both retail and institutional users. Retail derivatives generated more than $200 million in annualized revenue.
“Q1 results came in well below the Street even with a surprisingly higher contribution of revenues from new growth areas like prediction markets and retail derivatives,” Barclays analysts said.
Consumer trading volumes dropped 36% compared with the previous quarter as weaker crypto prices reduced trading activity. Despite this, Coinbase’s take rate improved to 1.57% as revenue mix shifted away from more active traders.
Analysts see long-term pressure on trading margins
“Longer term, we see structural pressure on take rates as crypto trading becomes commoditized, with more incumbents offering crypto trading at competitive rates,” Bank of America analysts commented.
“While NT results remain tied to crypto prices, we are encouraged by the firm’s push to diversify into more durable revenue streams including crypto-as-a-service,” they added.
Stablecoin and blockchain activity continue to expand
Discussing Coinbase’s stablecoin operations, Armstrong said the company achieved a “new all-time high in USDC held in Coinbase products and saw 10x year-over-year growth in stablecoin transactions on Base.”
“We’re also leading on the next frontier with over 90% of onchain agentic stablecoin transaction volume happening on Base. We believe there will soon be billions of agents transacting and they need rails that can keep up, and Coinbase is at the center of the agent economy,” the CEO added.
Coinbase provides second-quarter outlook
Looking ahead, Coinbase expects transaction revenue of approximately $215 million for the second quarter through May 5.
The company also forecast services and subscription revenue between $565 million and $645 million for the current quarter.