We haven’t talked about crypto for a while in this newsletter. Coinbase reported earnings yesterday (PDF here) so this provides a perfect opportunity to reflect on the state of crypto.

Last year was a great year for crypto. Since the market bottomed out in December 2022, the price of bitcoin has more than tripled. Enthusiasm for the recently approved Bitcoin ETFs has remained strong with BTC now over $52,000 as of this writing.

Coinbase has come through all the crypto drama of 2022 and 2023 relatively unscathed. And their earnings demonstrate that. In Q4 the company generated revenue of $954 million and earnings of $276 million, both well ahead of expectations.

During the crypto winter, the company did two large rounds of layoffs to trim costs and now has a lower cost base, a good position to be in as the market has recovered.

The company told investors that in 2024 it will be focused on building out USDC infrastructure as well as its layer-2 blockchain Base. And it will continue to ride the crypto bull market while it lasts.

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