Coinbase Q2 2026: trading revenue fell 21%, S&S landed below guidance

Coinbase’s second-quarter 2026 revenue was $1.22 billion, down 19% from a year earlier, and it posted a net loss of $359.5 million, or $1.36 per diluted share, against net income of $1.43 billion a year ago. Measured against its own May outlook, the one line that fell short was the one the diversification case rests on: subscription and services revenue of $555.1 million came in below the $565–645 million range, while the company’s own outlook-versus-actuals table marks all four expense lines as met, per its July 30 and May 7 filings.

Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) runs a crypto exchange and the services around it — custody, staking, stablecoin economics, lending and subscriptions. Its revenue has two halves that move for different reasons: transaction revenue, which follows trading volume, and subscription and services (S&S), which follows balances, rates and asset prices. In this quarter both fell, and the net loss was driven mostly by marks on crypto and investments the company holds for itself.

Coinbase Q2 2026 results at a glance

	Q2 2026	Q1 2026	Q2 2025
Transaction revenue	$599.2M	$755.8M	$764.3M
Subscription and services revenue	$555.1M	$583.5M	$632.2M
— of which stablecoin revenue	$292M	$305M	$309M
Corporate interest and other income	$65.8M	$73.6M	$100.7M
Total revenue	$1,220.1M	$1,413.0M	$1,497.2M
Total operating expenses	$1,333.6M	$1,434.4M	$1,521.9M
Net income (loss)	$(359.5)M	$(394.1)M	$1,428.9M
Diluted EPS	$(1.36)	$(1.49)	$5.14
Adjusted net income (loss)	$(104.9)M	$(45.6)M	$33.2M
Adjusted EBITDA	$207.8M	$303.3M	$512.1M

Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income are the company’s non-GAAP measures; both exclude gains and losses on crypto assets held for investment, and adjusted EBITDA also excludes stock-based compensation, restructuring and other non-operating items. Net revenue — the base for the 48% S&S share — is total revenue minus corporate interest and other income: $1,154.3 million this quarter.

Did Coinbase hit its own Q2 outlook?

Not on revenue: S&S of $555.1 million was about $10 million below the bottom of the $565–645 million range given in the Q1 letter (our arithmetic). On costs it did. The Q2 letter’s own outlook-versus-actuals table shows:

Metric	Q2 outlook (May 2026)	Q2 actual
Subscription and services revenue	$565–645M	$555M
Transaction expense	Low-to-mid teens % of net revenue	16.4%
Technology & development + general & administrative	$820–870M	$830M
Sales and marketing	$200–300M	$240M
Stock-based compensation	~$240M	$238M

The May letter also guided a one-time restructuring expense of about $50–60 million for Q2; the income statement shows $52.4 million. Coinbase marks transaction expense as met; 16.4% of net revenue is at the upper edge of a “low-to-mid teens” description, and the letter says lower trading volume was “offset by fees associated with prediction market growth.” Against the year-ago quarter the comparison is simpler: every revenue line fell — transaction revenue −22%, S&S −12%, total revenue −19%.

How much of revenue is now subscription and services?

48% of net revenue, the company reports, up from 44% in Q1 and 45% a year ago — but the share rose because transaction revenue fell faster, not because S&S grew. S&S declined 5% sequentially. Inside it:

• Stablecoin revenue of $292 million, down from $305 million in Q1, as a record $20 billion of average USDC held in Coinbase products (vs $14 billion a year earlier) was offset, per the letter, by lower interest rates and lower off-platform balances.
• Blockchain rewards of $83 million, down from $101 million, with growth in native units staked offset by price effects and reward rates.
• Interest and finance fee income of $66 million, and other S&S of $114 million.

Transaction revenue of $599.2 million broke down into consumer $452 million (−20% quarter over quarter), institutional $100 million (−26%) and other $47 million (−11%). The letter sets that against a market in which, by its measure, total crypto spot trading volume fell 25% and total crypto market capitalization 11% quarter over quarter. Coinbase’s own spot trading volume was $146.4 billion, down from $192.5 billion; its company-defined share of global crypto trading volume rose to a record 10.3% from 9.1%.

Assets on platform fell to $246 billion from $294 billion in Q1 and $425 billion a year earlier; the letter says most of the quarter’s outflows were driven by ETF activity, where Coinbase is the primary custodian.

Why did Coinbase post a $359 million net loss?

Mostly because of marks on what it owns, not the platform. The income statement carries $209.5 million of losses on crypto assets held for investment and $49.9 million of other expense, net — a line that, per the Adjusted EBITDA definition, holds net gains and losses on investments and other non-operating items. The adjusted-net-income reconciliation separately removes $58.2 million of losses on investments. Excluding the crypto and investment losses (net of a $13.2 million tax effect), the adjusted net loss was $104.9 million.

The operating line was negative too: an operating loss of $113.5 million, which includes the $52.4 million restructuring charge from the May headcount reduction and $31.7 million of losses on crypto held for operations. Adjusted EBITDA stayed positive at $207.8 million, which the company calls its 14th consecutive positive quarter, though it was down 59% from a year earlier.

The year-ago quarter was the mirror image: Q2 2025’s $1,428.9 million of net income included $1,506.9 million of other income, almost all of it ($1,472.1 million) gains on investments, so the swing to a loss is mostly a swing in investment marks.

Where did costs and cash go?

Costs fell. Adjusted expenses — technology and development, general and administrative, and sales and marketing excluding intangible amortization — were $1,034.8 million, down 9% from Q1. Headcount fell to 4,321 at quarter-end from 4,988 at the end of Q1, after a 14% reduction in May. The company lowered and narrowed its full-year 2026 adjusted expense outlook to $4,200–4,450 million from $4,250–4,600 million.

Cash and cash equivalents were $8.6 billion at June 30, down from $11.3 billion at December 31. The six-month cash-flow statement shows where much of it went: $1.27 billion of long-term debt repaid and $1.24 billion of common stock repurchased. Shares outstanding were 263.8 million at June 30, against 267.8 million at year-end.

What did Coinbase guide for Q3?

An S&S range of $500–580 million, whose $540 million midpoint is about 3% below the $555 million just reported (our arithmetic). The letter lists average USDC balances as a tailwind and the roll-off of Q2 performance earn-outs and lower average crypto prices as headwinds. Other Q3 outlook lines: transaction expense in the mid-teens as a percentage of net revenue, adjusted expenses of $980–1,080 million, and stock-based compensation of about $245 million.

For transaction revenue the company gives no range, only a data point: about $130 million through July 26, with an explicit caution against extrapolating it. As a rate check only, that is about $5.0 million a day over 26 days, against about $6.6 million a day across the 91 days of Q2 (our arithmetic) — a starting condition, not a forecast.

What to watch in Q3

• S&S against the $500–580 million range. Having landed below its Q2 range, this is the line that tests whether the recurring half holds when trading is weak.
• Stablecoin revenue versus USDC balances. Balances hit a record; revenue still fell. Rates decide how much of the balance growth reaches revenue.
• Adjusted expenses against $980–1,080 million, the first full quarter after the May headcount reduction.
• The investment marks. Crypto held for investment was $1.47 billion at June 30; its marks, not the platform, drove most of the Q2 loss.
• Volume share. Whether the record 10.3% holds if market volumes recover.

Quick answers

How much did Coinbase earn in Q2 2026?

It lost money: a net loss of $359.5 million, or $1.36 per diluted share, on total revenue of $1.22 billion, against net income of $1.43 billion ($5.14 per share) in Q2 2025. The adjusted net loss, excluding crypto-investment and investment losses, was $104.9 million.

Did Coinbase meet its Q2 2026 guidance?

Partly. Subscription and services revenue of $555 million was below the $565–645 million outlook given in May; the company’s own comparison table marks transaction expense (16.4% of net revenue against “low-to-mid teens”), technology and development plus general and administrative, sales and marketing, and stock-based compensation as met.

What is Coinbase’s Q3 2026 outlook?

Subscription and services revenue of $500–580 million, adjusted expenses of $980–1,080 million, transaction expense in the mid-teens percent of net revenue and stock-based compensation of about $245 million. Transaction revenue was about $130 million through July 26, which the company cautioned against extrapolating.

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Sources and method. Company figures — the financial recap, income statement, balance sheet and cash-flow statement, the Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income (Loss) and Adjusted Expenses reconciliations, the transaction and S&S revenue breakdowns, USDC balances, assets on platform, trading volumes and market share, headcount, the Q2 outlook-versus-actuals table, and the Q3 and full-year 2026 outlook — are Coinbase’s own disclosures in Exhibit 99.1 (shareholder letter) to the Form 8-K filed 2026-07-30 (accession 0001679788-26-000087) for the quarter ended 2026-06-30, read directly from SEC EDGAR and linked above. The Q2 outlook is also checked against Exhibit 99.1 to the Form 8-K filed 2026-05-07 (accession 0001679788-26-000053). Market-wide volume, market-capitalization and market-share figures are the company’s own measures, which it builds from third-party data providers named in the letter. The filing was accepted by EDGAR at 16:06 ET, after the close.

No consensus estimate is included, so this piece makes no claim that the quarter beat or missed expectations; the only comparisons are with the company’s own published outlook and the year-ago quarter. This piece makes no claim about the share-price reaction.

Our arithmetic, labelled as such: the ~$10 million shortfall of S&S below the bottom of the May range; the ~3% gap between the Q3 S&S midpoint and the Q2 actual; and the ~$5.0 million and ~$6.6 million daily transaction-revenue rates for July 1–26 and Q2. These are approximations built on the disclosed figures, not reported numbers. Percentage changes shown in the results table and body are the company’s own. The interpretation — that the S&S share rose because trading revenue fell faster, and that investment marks rather than platform operations drove most of the loss — is our analysis, not a company statement, and is not a forecast.

Related: Strategy Q2 2026, also reported on July 30, and Amazon Q2 2026.

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