
COIN$143.54▼ 10.6%Coinbase's first profit in a year came mostly from the rising value of its own crypto
Coinbase reported $718.7 million of third-quarter profit on Oct. 29. Its operations earned $61.7 million, and for the first nine months of 2026 it still reported a net loss, its quarterly report shows.
KeyVex News··5 min readFact-checked against 4 public records
KeyVex News··5 min readFact-checked against 4 public records
COIN$143.54▼ 10.6%Close, Oct. 30. Prices from Tiingo.The short versionTap to readTap to close
- A company's profit usually comes from running its business. Coinbase's business, trading fees and services, earned $61.7 million in the third quarter, down from $480.5 million a year earlier.
- Coinbase also holds crypto as an investment, mainly bitcoin and ether, and books each quarter's change in market value as a gain or loss. In the third quarter, that line gained $715.0 million.
- The same line lost $1.41 billion over the three quarters before. For the first nine months of 2026, Coinbase reported a net loss of $34.9 million.
- Rosenblatt's Chris Brendler called the quarter "the clearest evidence yet" that Coinbase's strategy was working, StockTwits reported. JPMorgan's Kenneth Worthington said the transaction environment kept struggling, it reported.
- Coinbase remeasures these holdings at fair value each quarter. The fourth quarter ends Dec. 31.
The profit: Coinbase reported net income of $718.7 million for the three months through September, after the market closed on Oct. 29.10-Q It was the crypto exchange's first quarterly profit since the same quarter of 2025.8-K
The business: Revenue was $1.22 billion, down 35% from a year earlier. Operating income, what was left after running the company, was $61.7 million.8-K Most of the profit came from a $715.0 million gain on the crypto Coinbase holds as an investment, "mainly Bitcoin and Ethereum," its quarterly report says.10-Q
Why it matters: Over the last five quarters, Coinbase's net income has moved in the same direction as the gain or loss on the crypto it holds as an investment. That line lost $1.41 billion over the three quarters before.8-K Over the first nine months of 2026 it netted a gain of $23.2 million, and Coinbase reported a net loss of $34.9 million.10-Q
View the data
| Third quarter of 2026 | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Net income (Third quarter of 2026) | $719M | $718,697 thousand |
| Gain on crypto Coinbase holds as an investment (Mainly bitcoin and ether, valued at market prices) | $715M | $715,022 thousand |
| Operating income (Revenue less operating expenses) | $62M | $61,669 thousand |
Interest, other income and taxes make up the difference between the bars. Source: Coinbase Form 10-Q for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2026.10-Q
The stock: On Oct. 30, the first trading day after the results, Coinbase closed down 10.6% at $143.54, while the S&P 500 fund SPY fell 1.8%.Chart data Needham, Rosenblatt, JPMorgan, Barclays and other firms lowered their price targets on Coinbase after the results, StockTwits reported. It also cited a reported $6.3 billion hack at Binance, another crypto exchange, and said bitcoin's fall of as much as 5.5% in 24 hours, to around $77,000, added to the pressure on crypto stocks.StockTwits
Coinbase's stock and its last five earnings reportsDaily close, Oct. 1, 2025 to Oct. 30, 2026 ▼ 58.5%Show chartHide chart
How a crypto exchange books its own bitcoin
Coinbase's balance sheet shows two kinds of crypto: some held for operations, and some held as an investment. Each quarter it remeasures the investment coins at fair value, and the change runs through the income statement as a gain or a loss.10-Q
Gains on crypto assets held for investment, net changed for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2026 as compared to 2025, primarily due to fair value remeasurement of these assets, mainly Bitcoin and Ethereum.
At Sept. 30, Coinbase held $2.22 billion of crypto that way. Most of it was 17,954 bitcoin, valued at $1.5 billion, against 15,389 at the end of 2025. It also held 152,649 ether, valued at $410 million.10-Q In the first nine months of the year it spent $217.9 million buying crypto for that portfolio.10-Q
Bitcoin rose 39% in the three months through September, CNBC reported.CNBC A year earlier, in the third quarter of 2025, the same line had made $423.9 million.10-Q
In between, it lost money in each of the three quarters: $718.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2025, $482.4 million in the first quarter of 2026 and $209.5 million in the second.8-K10-Q10-Q
Coinbase's gains and losses on the crypto it holds, by quarterShow chartHide chart
View the data
| Quarter | Gain or loss | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 '25 | $424M | Gain of $423.9 million |
| Q4 '25 | $-718M | Loss of $718.2 million |
| Q1 '26 | $-482M | Loss of $482.4 million |
| Q2 '26 | $-209M | Loss of $209.5 million |
| Q3 '26 | $715M | Gain of $715.0 million |
Source: Coinbase third-quarter 2026 earnings deck, income statement, and its quarterly reports.8-K
A year earlier, the same nine months brought Coinbase a $1.93 billion profit.10-Q
What the trading business did
Transaction revenue, mostly fees on trades, was $590.2 million, down 44% from a year earlier. Revenue from subscriptions and services, which includes income from USDC, a crypto token meant to hold a $1 value, was $570.2 million, down 20%.8-K Coinbase said market-wide crypto trading volume fell 10% from the second quarter and price swings hit multi-year lows. Its own transaction revenue fell 1% from the second quarter.8-K
Coinbase also reports adjusted EBITDA, a profit measure that leaves out gains and losses on crypto held for investment, stock-based pay and taxes, among other items. It was $333 million, its 15th positive quarter in a row, Coinbase said.8-K
Analysts read the quarter differently, StockTwits reported. Rosenblatt's Chris Brendler called it "the clearest evidence yet" that Coinbase's "Everything Exchange" strategy was working. JPMorgan's Kenneth Worthington said the transaction environment kept struggling. Barclays cited a "sizeable downgrade" to its near-term EBITDA estimates.StockTwits
Coinbase's outlook gives one early read on the fourth quarter: about $165 million of transaction revenue through Oct. 25, with a note cautioning against extrapolating from it.8-K Coinbase remeasures its crypto investments at fair value each quarter, and the fourth quarter ends Dec. 31.10-Q
Also in the filings
Nothing in the records ties this section to the quarter's results. Chief executive Brian Armstrong entered into a trading plan on Aug. 12, during an open trading window, the quarterly report says. It allows the sale of up to 8,167,446 shares he would get by exercising vested stock options, if the stock meets threshold prices set in the plan. The plan runs from an estimated start of Nov. 16 to Oct. 22, 2027.10-Q
What to watch
Coinbase says it will relaunch Coinbase Pro, a trading platform for crypto, crypto futures and options, and stocks in one account.
The fourth quarter ends. Coinbase remeasures its crypto investments at fair value each quarter.
Coinbase reported its last fourth-quarter results on Feb. 12, 2026.
The paper trail
The Coinbase filings this story cites.
| Filed (ET) | Form | Filer | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct. 29, 2026, 4:12 p.m. | 10-Q | Coinbase | Third quarter: net income $718.7 million, operating income $61.7 million, a $715.0 million gain on crypto held for investment. 17,954 bitcoin at Sept. 30. |
| Oct. 29, 2026, 4:09 p.m. | 8-K | Coinbase | Earnings deck: revenue $1.22 billion, down 35%; five quarters of results; the fourth-quarter outlook. |
| July 30, 2026 | 10-Q | Coinbase | Second quarter: a $209.5 million loss on crypto held for investment; net loss $359.5 million. |
| May 7, 2026 | 10-Q | Coinbase | First quarter: a $482.4 million loss on crypto held for investment; net loss $394.1 million. |
Sources
8 sources, 4 of them public records
Public records
- Coinbase Global, Inc., Form 10-Q for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2026SEC EDGAR · Oct. 29, 2026
- Coinbase Global, Inc., Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1: third-quarter 2026 earnings presentationSEC EDGAR · Oct. 29, 2026
- Coinbase Global, Inc., Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026SEC EDGAR · July 30, 2026
- Coinbase Global, Inc., Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2026SEC EDGAR · May 7, 2026
Reporting
- "Coinbase net income surges 66% in third quarter, benefiting from bitcoin investment gains"CNBC · Oct. 29, 2026
- "COIN Stock Sinks To Over 2-Year Low As Bitcoin Sinks Below $77K, Wall Street Cuts Price Targets" (StockTwits, on Yahoo Finance)StockTwits · Oct. 30, 2026
Data
- End-of-day prices for COIN, and for SPY and QQQ on the chart (Tiingo)KeyVex · through Oct. 30, 2026
- The chart's Filings layer: KeyVex's Congress trade, insider trade, Form 144, 8-K and lobbying records for COINKeyVex · through Oct. 30, 2026
How we got these numbers
- Prices are end-of-day closes as traded, not adjusted for dividends. Daily moves are close to close. Every Coinbase close in the chart's Story range is in its data table. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 lines follow SPY and QQQ, also as traded, rebased to Coinbase's close at the start of the range shown. The Filings switch shows the filing markers from KeyVex's Coinbase stock page, a selection of congressional trades, insider sales, Form 144 notices, 8-Ks and lobbying filings: not every filing, and not only those tied to this story.
- Quarterly figures come from Coinbase's earnings presentation (its five-quarter income statement) and its quarterly reports. The fourth quarter of 2025 is taken from the presentation. Rounded figures in the text come from the exact ones in the tables: net income $718,697 thousand, the crypto gain $715,022 thousand, operating income $61,669 thousand.
- The $1.41 billion is the sum of the three quarterly losses on crypto held for investment ($718.2 million, $482.4 million and $209.5 million), KeyVex's math from Coinbase's figures.
- The header image was generated for KeyVex by an image model. It is an illustration, not a photograph.




