Coinbase takes a record market share and still books a 359 million dollar loss

Coinbase published its second-quarter results on 30 July, and the report reads like two stories at once. The exchange captured a larger slice of global crypto trading than ever before, and in the same quarter posted a net loss of 359 million dollars (roughly €314 million). The shares fell about five per cent after publication.

A record share of a shrinking market

Coinbase handled 10.3 per cent of all crypto trading volume worldwide in the second quarter, up from 9.1 per cent in the first. That is the third consecutive record quarter, and it explains exactly why the numbers look so contradictory: a growing share of a shrinking market still produces less revenue.

Total revenue came in at 1.22 billion dollars (roughly €1.07 billion), fourteen per cent below the previous quarter and nineteen per cent below a year ago. Analysts had expected roughly seventy million dollars (about €61 million) more.

Where the 359 million dollar loss comes from

The loss is largely an accounting matter. A 209.5 million dollar (roughly €183 million) markdown on the company's own crypto holdings cost no cash at all, but weighs on the result. On top of that came 52.4 million dollars (roughly €46 million) in restructuring charges and 238 million dollars (roughly €208 million) in stock-based compensation.

Strip those out and what remains is an adjusted loss of 105 million dollars (roughly €92 million) and adjusted EBITDA of 208 million dollars (roughly €182 million). That is the fourteenth consecutive quarter in which that measure has been positive. The quarterly loss was also smaller than the 394 million dollars (roughly €345 million) recorded in the first quarter.

Subscriptions carry almost half the revenue

Transaction revenue came to 599 million dollars (roughly €524 million), twenty-one per cent lower quarter on quarter. Consumer trading fell twenty per cent and institutional trading twenty-six per cent. Against that, subscriptions and services brought in 555 million dollars (roughly €486 million), or forty-eight per cent of net revenue.

The stablecoin engine sits inside that block. Customers held an average of twenty billion dollars (roughly €17.5 billion) in USDC at Coinbase, an all-time high and more than thirty per cent of all USDC in circulation. Prediction markets now run at more than a hundred million dollars (roughly €88 million) in annualised revenue, more than double the previous quarter.

What the figures say about the European market

For European users, Coinbase has been a fully regulated counterparty since last year: the exchange serves the entire European Union out of Luxembourg under a MiCA authorisation. Since the transitional period ended on 1 July, that is no longer a nicety but the entry requirement for serving customers here at all.

The fact that eighty-eight per cent of net revenue now comes from something other than bitcoin says something about where the market is heading. Trading fees are cyclical; custody, staking, stablecoin interest and subscriptions are far less so. That is precisely the model European rivals such as Kraken, Bitvavo and Finst are working towards.

The cost lever is engaged

Coinbase counted 4,321 staff at the end of June, fourteen per cent fewer than before the May restructuring, when 4,988 people were on the payroll. Full-year 2026 cost guidance was cut to between 4.20 and 4.45 billion dollars (roughly €3.68 to €3.89 billion).

The balance sheet, meanwhile, remains comfortable: 8.6 billion dollars (roughly €7.5 billion) in cash as of 30 June, two billion dollars (roughly €1.75 billion) of stock bought back and another two billion of authorisation left. As of 26 July, third-quarter transaction revenue stood at roughly 130 million dollars (about €114 million).

What this means for you

An exchange that gains market share while its revenue falls has one obvious lever: pricing. Coinbase already sits among the more expensive venues in Europe for small orders, and nothing in these figures suggests that is about to change. Compare fees per order, then, not per exchange.

The other half of the story is reassuring. A platform with 8.6 billion dollars on its balance sheet, a MiCA authorisation and fourteen quarters of positive adjusted EBITDA is not one that collapses tomorrow. If you use Coinbase, this is a cost story rather than a safety story. And the fact that half of revenue now comes from subscriptions and stablecoin interest is a reminder to check where your balance actually sits and what your provider earns on it.

Sources: Coinbase second-quarter 2026 shareholder letter, CoinDesk, Benzinga, The Crypto Times, CSSF Luxembourg. Last checked: 31 July 2026.