Coinbase Q3 2026: revenue down 35% to $1.22B, while a $715M crypto gain lifted net income to $719M

Coinbase earns money in two ways. Transaction revenue is the fee it charges when customers trade crypto, derivatives and, since this year, prediction-market contracts. Subscription and services revenue comes largely from the interest on USDC stablecoins held on its platform, staking rewards, lending and its Coinbase One subscription. The first moves with trading activity; the second moves more with interest rates and balances.

Q3 2026 was a quiet quarter for crypto trading. The presentation reports that crypto asset volatility fell 15% from Q2 to multi-year lows, and that total market spot and derivatives volumes fell 6% and 11%, before prices rebounded in September. That rebound is the quarter’s tension. Revenue stayed flat from Q2; the next section shows what the rebound did to net income instead.

Coinbase Q3 2026 results at a glance

$ millions, except per share	Q3 2026	Q2 2026	Q3 2025
Total revenue	1,215.6	1,220.1	1,868.7
Transaction revenue	590.2	599.2	1,046.3
Subscription and services	570.2	555.1	716.6
Operating income (loss)	61.7	(113.5)	480.5
Gains on crypto held for investment	715.0	(209.5)	423.9
Net income (loss)	718.7	(359.5)	432.6
Diluted EPS	$2.51	$(1.36)	$1.50
Adjusted Net Income (Loss)	77.7	(104.9)	420.7
Adjusted EBITDA	332.9	207.8	800.7

The gains row shows Coinbase’s figures with the sign flipped for readability: the income statement records a $715.0 million gain this quarter as “(Gains) losses on crypto assets held for investment” of (715.0), and a $209.5 million loss in Q2.

Net income of $719M, of which $715M was a crypto mark

Operating income was $61.7 million, an operating margin of about 5.1% of total revenue against 25.7% a year earlier (our arithmetic). Below that line, the $715.0 million pre-tax gain on crypto assets held for investment and $66.7 million of other income produced pre-tax income large enough to absorb a $105.2 million tax provision. The pre-tax crypto gain alone was within $4 million of net income (our arithmetic).

Coinbase’s own adjusted measures strip the mark out. Adjusted Net Income, which excludes gains and losses on crypto held for investment and on other investments, net of tax, was $77.7 million, against $420.7 million a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA was $332.9 million, up 60% from Q2 but down 58% from a year earlier. The presentation notes it was the 15th consecutive quarter of positive Adjusted EBITDA.

Because the crypto gain depends on prices at quarter-end, it can reverse. It did in Q2, when the same line was a $209.5 million loss, and in Q4 2025, when it was a $718.2 million loss.

Transaction revenue fell 44% with trading volumes

Trading volume, $ billions	Q3 2026	Q2 2026	Q3 2025
Consumer spot	23.4	25.8	57.4
Institutional spot	111.1	120.6	236.9
Crypto derivatives	963.0	1,027.0	843.8

Consumer transaction revenue was $450 million, which the presentation describes as about flat from Q2, as declines in consumer spot and derivatives volumes were “cushioned by continued growth in prediction markets.” Institutional transaction revenue fell 8% from Q2 to $92 million. Consumer spot volume was about 59% below a year earlier (our arithmetic). Derivatives volume grew from a year earlier, and Coinbase’s share of crypto trading volume rose for a fourth straight quarter to 10.7%, against 5.6% a year earlier.

Prediction markets, a recent addition, passed $200 million of annualized revenue, according to the presentation, with 82% quarterly compound growth since launch. The presentation does not give a quarterly dollar figure for them.

Subscription and services held up better

Subscription and services revenue was $570.2 million, down 20% from a year earlier but up 3% from Q2, and 49% of net revenue. Stablecoin revenue, the largest piece, was $307 million, up 5% from Q2, as average USDC held in Coinbase products reached a record $22 billion. Blockchain rewards were $86 million and interest and finance fee income $69 million.

Costs came in below the outlook

The presentation sets Q3 actuals against the outlook given in July. Subscription and services revenue of $570 million landed near the top of the $500 million to $580 million range. Adjusted expenses (technology and development, general and administrative, and sales and marketing, excluding intangible amortization) were $975 million, below the $980 million to $1,080 million range. Stock-based compensation was $233 million against about $245 million, and transaction expense was 16.8% of net revenue against a “mid-teens” outlook.

General and administrative expense fell 24% from a year earlier to $318.9 million, and technology and development fell 5% from Q2, which the presentation attributes to a “full quarter benefit of the May 2026 cost reductions.” Full-time employees were 4,204, against 4,795 a year earlier. The presentation says Coinbase is “reducing and narrowing” its 2026 adjusted expenses outlook “again,” to $4,150 million to $4,300 million, from $4,200 million to $4,450 million as of Q2.

What to watch in Q4

• Transaction revenue. About $165 million quarter to date through October 25, the presentation says, with a caution against extrapolating.
• Subscription and services. Guided to $550 million to $630 million, helped by higher average interest rates and crypto prices.
• Expenses. Adjusted expenses of $1,007 million to $1,157 million, with marketing tied to USDC rewards rising.
• The crypto mark. Net income will again depend on crypto prices on December 31.
• INTX and Deribit. The presentation says the integration completed in October and expects “some near-term volatility” in volumes as participants adjust.

Quick answers

Was Coinbase profitable in Q3 2026?

Net income was $718.7 million, or $2.51 a diluted share, but it included a $715.0 million pre-tax gain on crypto Coinbase holds as an investment. Operating income was $61.7 million, and Adjusted Net Income, which excludes that gain, was $77.7 million.

Why did Coinbase’s revenue fall in Q3 2026?

Total revenue fell 35% to $1,215.6 million because transaction revenue fell 44% to $590.2 million as trading volumes dropped; consumer spot volume was $23.4 billion against $57.4 billion a year earlier. Subscription and services revenue fell 20% to $570.2 million.

What is Coinbase’s Q4 2026 outlook?

Coinbase reported about $165 million of transaction revenue for Q4 through October 25 and guided subscription and services revenue to $550 million to $630 million and adjusted expenses to $1,007 million to $1,157 million.

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Sources and method. Every figure comes from Coinbase’s Q3 2026 shareholder presentation, filed as Exhibit 99.1 to the Form 8-K filed 2026-10-29 (accession 0001679788-26-000121) for the quarter ended 2026-09-30, read directly from SEC EDGAR and linked above: the financial summary, income statement, non-GAAP reconciliations, trading-volume and USDC tables, segment commentary, the Q3 outlook from July restated beside the actuals, and the Q4 and 2026 outlook. The filing was accepted at 4:09 pm ET on October 29, after the US market closed. Some market-level comparisons in the presentation rely on third-party data that it names; they are quoted here as the company’s statements, not verified independently.

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

Our arithmetic, labelled as such: operating margins of about 5.1% and 25.7%; the pre-tax crypto gain within $4 million of net income ($718.7 million less $715.0 million); and consumer spot volume about 59% below a year earlier. These are approximations built on the disclosed figures, not reported numbers. All other growth rates and percentages are as printed in the presentation. The interpretation (that a quarter-end crypto revaluation, not the operating business, produced the reported net income) is our analysis, not a company statement, and is not a forecast.

Related: Coinbase Q2 2026, the prior quarter; Strategy Q2 2026, whose results also turn on crypto marks; and Interactive Brokers Q3 2026, another trading platform.