q4 2020 and q1 2021 were anomalies. The government put $900B in stimulus money into individuals pockets. There is probably no single company that got more benefit from those payments than Coinbase. The fear of inflation from unfettered spending drove investors into crypto with the idea that it was a hedge against inflation. I don't buy that value proposition for crypto but it did drive prices higher. The stimulus also put money directly into individuals pockets many of whom were hoping to cash in on the boom.
Coinbase did $1.28B revenue in 2020 with something like half of it coming in q4. This was before Venmo, Cashapp, Paypal, etc. started selling crypto. The cost for customer acquisition is about to skyrocket at the same time fees are about to plummet.
There's a reason Coinbase is rushing to DPO right now. The stars are perfectly aligned for them to get out while the getting is good.
