Key Insights:
- Robinhood reported record Q3 2025 revenue of $1.27 billion, up 45% year-over-year, driven by a 300% surge in crypto trading income.
- Coinbase posted $1.37 billion in revenue for the same quarter, with strong growth from derivatives and recurring revenue streams.
- Robinhood’s net income rose 271% to $195 million, while Coinbase reported $801 million in adjusted EBITDA.
- Both firms benefited from increased retail engagement, but Coinbase’s expansion in derivatives and institutional services strengthened its market position.
Microstrategy’s Bitcoin holdings make headlines, but Robinhood and Coinbase generated real-time crypto revenue in Q3.
Robinhood’s net income soared 271% year-over-year to $556 million on $1.27 billion in revenue, fueled by record trading volumes, about $80 billion in crypto trades and $268 million in crypto fees.
Coinbase delivered larger absolute scale: $1.9 billion in revenue (up 58% YoY) and $433 million in net income.
Trading Volumes and Revenue Growth: Robinhood Vs Coinbase
The revenue growth for Robinhood outstripped Coinbase’s. The brokerage’s total net revenue doubled YoY to $1.27 billion.
Transaction-based fees were $730 million (up 129% YoY) and net interest income $456 million. Crypto and options trading drove the gains: Robinhood handled roughly $80 billion in crypto volume and earned $268 million in crypto trading revenue.
In contrast, Coinbase’s transaction revenue was $1.0 billion (over twice last year’s level) on about $295 billion in trading volume.
Coinbase’s total Q3 revenue of $1.9 billion reflected broad market recovery, including $747 million in subscription and services (+14% QoQ) and $355 million in stablecoin fees.
In summary, the online brokerage firm grew faster, 100% vs. 58% YoY, thanks to crypto/options booms, while the crypto exchange won on absolute trading revenue.
Profit and Margins
Both companies turned large profits. The GAAP net income for Robinhood was $556 million (EPS $0.61, up 259% YoY), with adjusted EBITDA of $742 million.
Coinbase reported net income of $433 million and adjusted EBITDA of $801 million. Coinbase managed costs tightly – Q3 operating expenses fell 9% from Q2 to $1.4 billion, which, along with higher trading volume, drove its stronger margins.
Robinhood’s profit margin also improved, as its fee-driven model scaled. Both CEO/CFOs noted robust earnings: Robinhood CFO Jason Warnick said Q3 delivered “another strong quarter of profitable growth,” and Coinbase wrote that it “drove solid financial results” while building its “Everything Exchange.”
Customer and Asset Growth: Robinhood Vs COIN
The user base of Robinhood continued expanding. Funded customer accounts rose 10% YoY to 26.8 million, and Gold (premium) subscriptions grew 77% to 3.9 million.
Total platform assets (stocks and crypto) jumped 119% to $333 billion on market appreciation and $20.4 billion in net deposits.
Coinbase does not report active users, but ended Q3 with about $516 billion in Assets on Platform[16] and $11.9 billion in USD cash resources, reflecting its large custodied volume.
Coinbase also saw record stablecoin balances (over $15 billion) and a 28% rise in blockchain rewards revenue (to $185 million) as crypto prices climbed. In short, Robinhood’s platform is smaller but rapidly scaling, while Coinbase serves a far larger asset pool.
MicroStrategy’s Crypto Strategy vs. Exchange Models
MicroStrategy’s approach is entirely different from Robinhood and Coinbase. Its corporate strategy is to hold Bitcoin rather than collect trading fees.
Microstrategy (now “Strategy”) reported buying 397 BTC last week, bringing its total to 641,205 coins, worth over $69 billion.
This highlights diverging strategies in crypto markets. Robinhood and Coinbase monetize every trade and service, whereas Microstrategy (“MSTR”) earns only if Bitcoin rises.
In Q3, this distinction showed up in metrics: Coinbase, with its broad exchange, generated more absolute profit ($433 million vs. $556 million at Robinhood) and revenue, but percentage growth for Robinhood was higher.
Both models benefited from higher crypto prices – Coinbase’s volume surge and Microstrategy’s balance sheet gains – but only the trading platforms turned market activity into fee revenue.
In sum, Coinbase leads in scale in Q3 while Robinhood leads in growth. Coinbase’s $1.9 billion revenue and $801 million adjusted EBITDA easily top Robinhood’s $1.27 billion and $742 million, yet Robinhood’s 100% YOY growth (vs. 58% for Coinbase) highlights its momentum.
Robinhood’s crypto and options trading drove its outsize gains, whereas Coinbase’s diversified exchange services drove higher absolute profits.