Coinbase’s Q1 earnings beat expectations; FTX bankruptcy judge approves sale of LedgerX; Block has released the 2023 first-quarter earnings report.
Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the USA, announced its earnings report for the first quarter of 2023.
The exchange’s revenues increased by 22% due to the dividend payment. Shares of the company also increased by 7%.
Interest income also resulted in $240 million, compared to an estimate of $205 million. This means an increase of 32% compared to the previous $186 million.
Of the $240 million in interest income, $205 million came from USDC alone.
The cryptocurrency exchange managed to exceed expectations, with revenue of $ 736 million compared to analysts’ estimate of $ 658 million.
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase continues its struggle with regulators. The SEC recently sent a Wells notice to Coinbase.
In its response to the notice, Coinbase argued that such a move was not in the country’s interests, and said it was fully prepared to “fight the SEC” in court if necessary.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong told reporters that if regulatory clarity is not provided, the company may relocate its headquarters to another country.
FTX bankruptcy judge approves sale of LedgerX
The judge presiding over the bankruptcy case of cryptocurrency exchange FTX has approved the sale of LedgerX.
At a May 4 hearing in the U.S. District of Delaware Bankruptcy Court, Judge Jack Dorsey upheld an April motion by FTX creditors to sell LedgerX to M7 Holdings, a subsidiary of Miami International Holdings. It was stated that FTX will generate $ 50 million in revenue from this agreement.
According to the lawyers present at the hearing, there was no objection to the sale of LedgerX. A representative speaking on behalf of OKC USA Holding, another company bidding for LedgerX, did not largely object to the transactions. But he said the company “reserves all of its rights to seek appropriate compensation.”
Judge Dorsey stated that the hearing was “easy” and expressed his satisfaction with all the documents and statements he read.
The court ruling reveals that FTX has taken a step forward in its bankruptcy case. The bankruptcy court approved the sale of some FTX affiliates in January.
FTX.US had acquired LedgerX in August 2021. Speaking at the time of the cryptocurrency exchange crash, CFTC Chairman Rostin Benham stated that LedgerX is “healthy”, “solvable” and “operational” compared to other FTX entities.
SBF faces several charges including transferring client funds from FTX through Alameda Research and violating campaign finance laws.
Block has released the 2023 first-quarter earnings report.
According to The Block’s report, the company, which had the name Square in the past, noted that BTC sales have increased in the CashApp application.
According to Block’s statement, BTC sales on CashApp increased by 25% compared to the first quarter of last year, reaching $2.2 billion. Sales in the first quarter of last year stood at $1.8 billion.
Gross profit from BTC sales in the first quarter of the year amounted to $ 50 million.
“The increase in Bitcoin revenues and gross profit compared to last year was due to the increase in Bitcoins sold to customers. Thus, it was offset by the decrease in the market value of Bitcoin compared to last year”
Block’s gross revenue increased 32% from last year to $1.7 billion. Total revenue is just under $5 billion.
“In the first quarter of 2023, revenue from transactions increased by 15% compared to last year to $1.4 billion. Gross profit increased by 16% to $602 million”
CashApp announced an integration for its users to transact with the Bitcoin Lightning Network last October. With this move of the platform, CashApp users had the opportunity to transfer BTC on layer 2 much faster and more efficiently.
It is stated that the platform has about 50 million users.
