Coinbase Revenue Will Be ‘Half or Less’ of Last Year’s: CEO Brian Armstrong

Coinbase will bring in half as much revenue this year amid the crypto winter, the company’s CEO Brian Armstrong has said.

Speaking on Bloomberg TV on Tuesday, Armstrong said that last year the firm raked in roughly $7 billion and $4 billion of positive EBITDA, a measure of underlying earnings.  He added, however, that “this year, with everything coming down, it’s looking, you know, about roughly half that or less.”

In the 2021 financial year, the crypto exchange business brought in almost $7.84 billion, according to its full-year shareholder letter.

In that same letter, published in February 2022, the company said its plans for the year included “ambitious headcount growth.”

But just a few months later, Armstrong admitted that the business had “over-hired” as he slashed 1,100 jobs in preparation for an “extended” crypto winter. Another 60 employees were laid off last month.

The market has already braced itself for a less impressive year from Coinbase, with the company’s share price down 83.5% since the start of the year.

At its third-quarter results, released last month, Coinbase pointed to a drop in trading volumes as its net revenue for the period declined 28% to $576 million.

FTX a ‘black mark’ on industry: Coinbase CEO

Armstrong also told Bloomberg that there was a clear need for regulation in the crypto world and that he expects something to be put in place in the U.S. within the next year.

He also reiterated his view that FTX was a “bad actor” a few days after saying funds missing from the firm were “stolen.”

“I do think the FTX downfall is a bit of a black mark for the industry. It’s not representative of the whole industry, of course, though,” he said. “In traditional finance, you see bad actors as well, like Bernie Madoff or what happened at Enron.” 

He went on to say that the crisis would serve as a wake-up call to regulators to enact legislation.