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Crypto exchange Coinbase and Jack Dorsey’s Block reported blockbuster earnings reports on Thursday, sending Bitcoin’s price back above $61,000 on Friday morning.
The quarterly results highlighted how crypto companies’ confidence in Bitcoin. Coinbase stock was down 1.5% in Friday morning trading, while Block stock was up about 6%.
Bitcoin boom fuels Coinbase’s growth
Coinbase reported earnings of $4.40 per share compared to analysts’ estimates of $1.15 per share. The company’s revenue was $1.64 billion, versus the average estimate of $1.36 billion.
For the quarter, consumer transaction revenues reached $935 million, an increase of more than 100% from a year earlier. A total of $1.08 billion in transaction revenue was generated, almost triple what there were in the previous quarter.
Although the crypto exchange has been in the crosshairs of the Securities and Exchange Commission for selling unregistered securities , spot Bitcoin ETFs were approved in the first quarter of 2024 by the financial watchdog — which also benefited the company as Bitcoin and the crypto market soared. And Coinbase partnered with BlackRock to provide infrastructure to its crypto based fund.
Block plans to buy more Bitcoin
Block announced in its latest earnings report that it will use 10% of its gross profit from Bitcoin products to purchase Bitcoin every month.
Block reported $5.96 billion in revenue, exceeding analysts’ estimates of $5.75 billion. The company’s earnings per share were $0.85, beating the expectations of $0.62 per share. In the first quarter, the company’s gross profit grew by 22% in a year to $2.09 billion.
Block held 8,038 Bitcoin worth $573 million at the end of March.
“The internet will have a native currency; it’s just a matter of time,” Dorsey wrote in a May 2 shareholder letter.
“Artificial Intelligence systems and agents will have to transact,” he added, “and the most efficient way to do so will be a common protocol for money movement.”