Was it really only a year ago that Coinbase was one of the hottest companies in town with a share price nudging $350 and plans for massive growth? Today, it's reeling. Shares are down more than 80%, it's posted gruesome losses in the first three quarters of 2022, and Q4 promises to be no better as CEO Brian Armstrong warned yesterday that Coinbase's annual revenue could be down 50%.
Part of this is simply bad luck. Unlike many in the sector, Coinbase has always kept a clean nose when it comes to managing customer money and playing nice with regulators—and like many others in the industry, it's suffered collateral damage linked to FTX, the collapse of which may have sent a few more customers to Coinbase, but, as a company insider told me, the problem is "no one is trading."
