Bitcoin Hits $1 Trillion | Coinbase Profits

The pioneering cryptocurrency extended a recent climb.

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Nina Bambysheva Staff Writer, Forbes Money & Markets
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Steven Ehrlich Director, Forbes Digital Assets
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BITCOIN ETFs ARE A BLESSING FOR MINING STOCKS

What’s good for bitcoin is good for bitcoin miners. Of the 12 largest publicly traded bitcoin miners by market capitalization, nine have posted double-digit gains over the past month, and all but four have increased in price more than soaring bitcoin itself, which is up 25%.

These stocks saw a brief selloff immediately following the wave of bitcoin ETF launches on January 11, but this was largely in response to bitcoin’s own price briefly receding in the wake of the event, not because the new funds were eating into the market share of these stocks, an outcome that some market commentators suggested was a possibility.

BITCOIN REGAINS $1 TRILLION MARKET CAP

The pioneering cryptocurrency regained $52,000 this week, extending a recent climb to more than $1 trillion in market capitalization. It last hit that level in late 2021.

Robust demand for the recently approved U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds has driven most of the price action in recent weeks. Since launching on January 11, 10 funds have amassed $37 billion in assets under management as of Thursday, an eye-popping level that has made the debut perhaps the most impressive in ETF history. Bolstered by the impressive performance of its flagship asset, the collective market capitalization of cryptocurrencies has reached $2.03 trillion, according to website CoinGecko.

CURRENT PRICE OF TOP 5 COINS (7-Day % Change)

Coin

Price

Percent Change

Bitcoin (BTC)

$51,956

9.2%

Ether (ETH)

$2,788

11.8%

Tether (USDT)

$1.00

0%

Binance Coin (BNB)

$358

11%

Solana (SOL)

$109

3.7%

Sources: Forbes Digital Assets, CoinGecko. Prices as of 5:40 p.m. on February 16, 2024.

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COINBASE POSTS FIRST QUARTERLY PROFIT IN TWO YEARS

Shares of the largest crypto exchange in the U.S. soared 13% Friday after the company reported its first quarterly profit since the final period of 2021—$273.4 million, or $1.04 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2023, compared with a loss of $557 million a year earlier. Revenue was $905 million, up nearly 50% from he same period of the previous year. Coinbase said transaction fees were the primary driver, while subscriptions and services remained relatively flat.

THE FUTURE OF CRYPTO AND BLOCKCHAIN: FINTECH 50 2024

Wheeling and dealing is out, long-term stability is in with this year’s crypto members of the Fintech 50. The industry is seeking to distance itself from the kind of activity that got FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried convicted and led his Binance counterpart Changpeng Zhao to a guilty plea in the U.S. A key focus now is for responsible stewards to guide up-and-coming companies through increased regulatory scrutiny and challenging economic conditions by keying in on regulatory compliance, security and the optimization of economic models. Read more.

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