The massive run-up in the price of cryptocurrencies has been a huge win for Coinbase, which is set to make its public market debut next week.
The digital currency exchange estimated Tuesday that it brought in $1.8 billion in revenue during the first three months of the year. That’s up from $1.3 billion for all of 2020.
Between January and March, the price of bitcoin — the most popular crypto coin — jumped from less that $30,000 to more than $58,000, while the price of ethereum more than doubled.
“We have seen all-time high crypto asset prices drive elevated levels of user activity and trading volume on our platform,” Coinbase chief financial officer Alesia Haas said in an investor call.
California-based Coinbase is the highest profile company in the crypto space to go public, and its direct listing on the Nasdaq, which is scheduled for next Wednesday, is getting lots of attention.
But regulation of the crypto space remains a big risk. Last month, Coinbase reached a $6.5 million settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission over claims it delivered false or misleading information about transactions and that a former employee made manipulative trades.
“We are subject to an extensive and highly-evolving regulatory landscape and any adverse changes to, or our failure to comply with, any laws and regulations could adversely affect our brand, reputation, business, operating results, and financial condition,” the company warned in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Topps is going public as trading cards boom
The pandemic has fed a resurgence in the popularity of trading cards, with the hobby attracting both a new wave of young adherents and a stream of professional investors hunting for returns.
That’s been good news for the 83-year-old Topps, whose brand is synonymous with baseballs cards and bubble gum. On Tuesday, the company announced plans to merge with a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, my CNN Business colleague Paul R. La Monica reports.
The deal would value Topps at $1.3 billion.
Topps has been a publicly-traded company several times throughout its many decades in business. Most recently, it was taken private in 2007 by an investment firm run by former Disney CEO Michael Eisner. That deal was worth $385 million.
I wrote a deep dive on trading card mania earlier this year — and the hype hasn’t abated. Last week, a 2000 autographed rookie card for Tom Brady sold for nearly $2.3 million at auction.
The industry has also received a boost from the craze over non-fungible tokens, or NFTs. Topps recently expanded its business to sell digital editions of its player cards, each with a unique digital token built on blockchain technology. That creates a scarcity that makes them more valuable to collectors.
