COINCoinbase Global, Inc.

Coinbase is a crypto exchange whose revenue follows trading volume — that is, market sentiment.

The main income is retail trading commission, and it is intensely cyclical: in rallies volumes rise several-fold, in quiet periods they fall by as much. Institutional trading brings volume at a much lower fee rate, so a shift toward it lowers average revenue per trade.

The second, steadier source is custody, staking and interest on reserves, including stablecoin backing. That part depends on asset balances and on interest rates rather than on trade count, and so cushions the troughs. The company is deliberately growing its share.

Regulation is the defining factor: the status of crypto assets in the United States has changed and continues to change, and with it the list of what the exchange may offer. The arrival of spot bitcoin funds gave the company a role as custodian of their reserves while diverting some retail demand to ordinary brokerage accounts.