Coinbase becomes the first crypto firm among the Fortune 500 list

Nasdaq- listed Coinbase Global, Inc., just became the first cryptocurrency company to make it to the Fortune 500 list of the largest U.S. corporations on Monday. 

The cryptocurrency exchange generated US$ 7.8 billion in revenue in the 2021 fiscal year, ranking 437 on the list despite struggling to meet analyst’s expectations in a widespread crypto crash. Its revenue is only over the minimum amount of US$ 6.4 billion that companies need to achieve to be considered for the list, as the list only factors in a company’s 2021 financial performance. 

Coinbase’s main revenue comes from trading fees. Bitcoin, which makes up about 44% of the crypto market, is trading below US$ 30,000, its lowest point since December 2020 and the crypto market lost almost US 1 trillion year-to-date. Coinbase’s trading volume in Q1, 2022 was US$ 309 billion, compared to the US$ 331.2 billion analysts predicted.

Also, when ranked by revenue gain of 513.7%, was behind Moderna who grew almost 2,200%. Coinbase also comes ahead of Hasbro, Xerox, Hertz and Victoria’s Secret. 

The exchange also reported a net loss of US$ 430 million in Q1, 2022 recently, its first loss after four quarters of significant growth. However, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong declared that he’s ‘never been more bullish on where we are as a company’. 

‘All markets have their ups and downs. After 10 years in business, we’ve learned how to navigate both. We tune out the noise, focus on the long term, and keep building,’ Armstrong wrote on Twitter.

‘Volatility is painful, and can be scary,’ wrote Coinbase chief marketing officer Kate Rouche in a blog post last Wednesday. ‘That said, volatility is also natural for emerging technological breakthroughs like crypto.’

Photo: Getty