(Bloomberg) – Coinbase Global Inc. Chief Financial Officer Alecia Haas said the cryptocurrency exchange defended the increase in expenses and volatility in the digital asset industry.
“We experienced a sharp increase in volume in March, and when volume increases, there tends to be a lag in customer support costs as we replenish our teams to deal with the resulting queues. Some of it spills over into the second quarter,” Haas said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Friday.
He said the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange has also been hit by rising infrastructure costs and increased expenses related to the company's USDC stablecoin rewards program, but said the company would “grow cautiously.” Ta.
“We learned our lessons the hard way in 2021 and 2022, when we grew too fast,” she said. It cut 20% of its staff in January.
On Friday, shares of San Francisco-based Coinbase fell 2.5% to $223.25. The stock, which soared more than 50% in the first quarter, fell 23% in April. Bitcoin fell 15% last month after rising 67% in the quarter.
Haas pointed to growth in the company's underlying Layer 2 blockchain, noting there has been activity in social and gaming applications as well as a controversial joke-themed currency known as a meme coin.
“This is creative content. It's just part of the process,” Haas said of meme coins.
He also downplayed the drop in Bitcoin prices in April after the currency hit a new high of more than $73,000 in March.
“It's just another day in the crypto market. That doesn't mean the long-term outlook won't continue to be as rosy as last week,” Haas said.
Coinbase reported Thursday that revenue more than doubled to $1.58 billion, beating the average estimate of $1.32 billion of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The company reported net income of $1.17 billion, including gains from accounting changes. The same period last year was in the red.
–With assistance from Sonali Basak.
(Adds video interview and updates final stock price.)
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