Coinbase Q1 Earnings Surpass 2020 Record; Crypto Traders on Robinhood Grew 6X to 9.5M in Q1; Bitcoin Again Hits $60K

Hey ?? Blockchain & Cryptocurrency aficionados! Trust you had a wonderful week. This is the best Weekly Blockchain & Crypto Digest thus far. Enjoy!

P.S. Before we dive into what happened in Blockchain & Crypto last week, check out my Connecting the Dots Newsletter, where you will get much more. Every Week (Month in FinTech is OUT)????

Last week (5-10 April) was just massive in Blockchain & Cryptocurrency space. Coinbase shared massive Q1 earnings that surpass 2020 record; online brokerage Robinhood saw 9.5 million customers trade crypto on its platform during the first quarter of 2021; Bitcoin again hits $60,000, and other super interesting news and developments.

Without further ado, let us dive into what has happened in the financial technology sector this week. Let’s connect the dots.

Coinbase Q1 Earnings Surpass 2020 Record

Crypto unicorn Coinbase has released its estimated Q1 earnings (pending review by the accountants), which showed some impressive progress since the S1 filing.

The announcement comes just a week before its April 14 IPO.

Coinbase offers a wide range of crypto products, including trading and custody services for both consumers and institutions, a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar, and a payment solution that lets merchants accept cryptos.

Most important metrics to know:

• Q1 revenue of $1.8 billion vs. $1.3 billion for all of 2020
• Q1 net income of $730 million vs. $322 million for all of 2020
• Q1 adjusted EBITDA of $1.1 billion vs. $527 million for all of 2020
• Monthly transacting users of 6.1 million vs. 2.8 million for all of 2020

THE TAKEAWAY

April 14 is going to be a significant day for the crypto industry. Not only it’s the first crypto unicorn to ever go public, rather it’s a move that will definitely bring crypto markets to the mainstream. Hence, it should convince investors that crypto firms have revenue-generating potential despite crypto market volatility, encouraging others to go public as well (next - Kraken? ??). I feel that $100 billion is not the end here…

Crypto Traders on Robinhood Grew 6X to 9.5M in Q1

Online brokerage Robinhood saw 9.5 million customers trade crypto on its platform during the first quarter of 2021. That figure is a whopping nearly 460% more than Robinhood's Q4 2020 number of 1.7 million.

In a blog, Christine Brown, Robinhood’s head of crypto operations, revealed that in the first quarter of 2021, 9.5 million of its customers traded crypto via the company’s platform. That’s up big time from the 1.7 million customers who traded crypto in the 2020 fourth quarter. The company first launched its Crypto unit in January of 2018 but hasn’t provided numbers in previous quarters.

Robinhood currently allows customers to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies, and had said it plans to give customers the ability to deposit and withdraw them for transfers to other wallets as well.

THE TAKEAWAY

Retail is making waves ?? Especially if you add this to Coinbase’s estimated Q1 earnings, the increase in retail investor activity in Q1 is astonishing. Is retail starting to drive the market even more than growth in interest from institutional investors? ??

Bitcoin Again Hits $60K

The most valuable cryptocurrency has reached $61,000 for the first time in almost one month in a fresh burst of bullish market action. 

Bitcoin (BTC) returned to $60,000 on April 10 as a bout of long-overdue volatility hit the market in line with analysts' expectations.

It has bounced back a bit and at the time of writing is trading at over $60,000.

THE TAKEAWAY

It’s unclear what propelled the rally, but the price action comes just days before leading U.S. exchange Coinbase begins trading on Nasdaq in one of the crypto industry’s most anticipated events. $60,000 is a psychological barrier and it was passed. Analysts are somewhat cautious though…

Extra Reads & Quick Bites for Curious Minds??:

• The Bank of Japan announced Monday that it has begun Phase 1 of central bank digital currency (CBDC) experiments. 
• Grayscale Says It’s ‘100% Committed to Converting GBTC Into an ETF’.
• The Sacramento Kings are set to become the first major sports franchise to offer a bitcoin payment option to all players and staff, team owner Vivek Ranadivé said on Clubhouse on Monday. The NBA team began selling everything from tickets to hot dogs for BTC in 2014, through BitPay.
• Encrypted messaging service Signal has begun allowing some of its users to test a new payments feature that includes support for a cryptocurrency.

??Money Moves??

• Riot Blockchain to acquire rival Whinstone, owner of the “largest” North American BTC mine, for $651 million.

Quote of the Week/??Food for Thought??

Teenagers these days…

Graph of the Week

Crypto exchange volumes surpassed $1 trillion in March — the second consecutive month that volumes have reached thirteen figures.

Week in Brief

Crypto unicorn Coinbase has released its estimated Q1 earnings (pending review by the accountants), which showed some impressive progress since the S1 filing.

Online brokerage Robinhood saw 9.5 million customers trade crypto on its platform during the first quarter of 2021. That figure is a whopping nearly 460% more than Robinhood's Q4 2020 number of 1.7 million.

The most valuable crypto currency has reached $61,000 for the first time in almost one month in a fresh burst of bullish market action.

Continue reading by subscribing to Connecting the Dots Newsletter. You will receive fresh news about Blockchain & Crypto with hot takeaways every week (Monthly FinTech edition is OUT!).

P.S. You might enjoy my earlier pieces as well:

?? The Perfect Pitch Deck: How Coinbase Raised Seed Capital and Began Journey Towards $100B Worth Public Company

?? Cutting Through the Noise: Bitcoin Fundamentals & Why it Was Created

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About: I am a business developer, sales professional, FinTech strategist, as well as Cryptocurrency and Blockchain enthusiast. I'm highly passionate about Financial Technology and Digital Innovation, and strongly believe that it will change the world for the better. Apart from my daily job at a global payments startup where I'm leading the company's expansion into Europe, I'm an active member of the FinTech community and a TechFin evangelist.

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