January 11, 2023 - 1:00pm
During a winter that many crypto fans already want to forget, the latest fear, uncertainty and doubt — or “FUD” — arose when Coinbase, the largest regulated exchange in the US, fired roughly one-fifth of its staff. The 1,200 employees set to be let go constitute a sharp increase from 60 fired last November, which coincided with the demise of Sam Bankman-Fried’s Ponzi empire.
Now, however, it is Coinbase’s turn to face the music. Its stock price has tumbled from $360 to $44 apiece, losing 88% of its value since the start of 2022. The crypto exchange had only gone public seven months previously at around $430, a month after CNBC’s Mad Money host Jim Cramer infamously declared: “We like Coinbase to $475 [per share]”.
The collapse of Coinbase’s stock should come as no surprise. In fact, many betting on the falling share price also predicted the demise of the company itself. Short-seller Jim Chanos, who exposed Enron in 2001, had not only grown sceptical of crypto but also of the many flawed business models that prominent crypto entities had adopted. Chanos identified Coinbase as one of many companies “sucking fees” and “ripping off retail clients.”
So when the bear market in technology stocks started gaining momentum at the beginning of 2022, Chanos’s firm shorted Coinbase’s stock. “Tech stocks don’t do well in reverse,” he said during a Crypto Critics Corner interview a few months later. “When they have to start shrinking, bad things happen.”
Fast forward to today, and that rings true for Coinbase. Its stock price has not only plunged, but the exorbitant fees the crypto exchange has been charging customers have come back to bite it, crippling its market share, profitability, and, of course, employee count. Chanos recently estimated that Coinbase has been charging 2.6% for “retail investor round-trip trades”, while the crypto exchange is still losing $500 million per quarter. If Coinbase doesn’t reduce its fees and crypto trading volumes continue to fall, its sales will come in at 30% lower than the 2023 consensus.
That’s the good news. As the bear market sets in, Coinbase may face a reckoning of its own. The crypto exchange uses its regulated status as a major selling point — even though it has flouted many rules. Indeed, Coinbase recently agreed to pay $100 million to end an investigation into its failure to implement anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) policies. Multiple insiders have been leaking information to front-run customers, with one study suggesting “token front-running” was more common than previously thought. The fact that PonziCoin is allowed to appear on Coinbase’s website is revealing enough.
Join the discussion
Join like minded readers that support our journalism by becoming a paid subscriber
To join the discussion in the comments, become a paid subscriber.
Join like minded readers that support our journalism, read unlimited articles and enjoy other subscriber-only benefits.
SubscribePeter Schiff….
One of the most entertaining finance guys on Youtube, and from the beginning of these covid years he has been telling of crypto’s Ponziness. He goes head to head with the Bit Coin sharks – Schiff is a ‘Gold Bug’ on really big debates telling exactly that to the Bit Coin ‘Hodlers’.
There is No value in Crypto, it is merely private Fiat, and backed by nothing. It is a very bad medium of exchange because of the transaction cost of ‘spending’ it; and rarely is worth the same thing more than twice (once going up, the other time going down), and is Not a ‘Store of Value’ because it makes 70% swings in months. It is nothing – just a mass psychosis of speculators. (It is not an investment as it has no actual worth, the only reason anyone would buy it is hoping some even bigger fool will pay even more for this value free token, or international criminals, or CIA for their nefarious underhand dealings, haha)
I have hopes for a gold and silver backed ‘Token’ on Blockchain. That will be a store of value, it will have actual value backing it. You will have to pay for the place which stores the gold though – so it is not perfect as it will decline very slowly as the storage is deducted. It is time to buy some gold….it is looking scary out there.
I agree completely. I love blockchain technology, it has so many different applications that are just starting to be explored but cryptocurrencies themselves are entirely useless. I used to trade a little bit 8 or so years ago, but it was an exercise in frustration. The price would fluctuate wildly with absolutely no rhyme or reason. I could also see no utility as an actual currency due to those large swings in price, long transaction processing times, variable transaction costs and also due to the fact that there really is no benefit to the average person. Many people would struggle to understand the distinction between paying for something with their credit card online or paying for the same thing in crypto, and very few people would ever care. I must say seeing how everyone has gone crypto crazy in the last few years has been puzzling, but then again, a non trivial amount of people are still wearing masks outside and hand sanitizing whenever they go inside.
I agree completely. I love blockchain technology, it has so many different applications that are just starting to be explored but cryptocurrencies themselves are entirely useless. I used to trade a little bit 8 or so years ago, but it was an exercise in frustration. The price would fluctuate wildly with absolutely no rhyme or reason. I could also see no utility as an actual currency due to those large swings in price, long transaction processing times, variable transaction costs and also due to the fact that there really is no benefit to the average person. Many people would struggle to understand the distinction between paying for something with their credit card online or paying for the same thing in crypto, and very few people would ever care. I must say seeing how everyone has gone crypto crazy in the last few years has been puzzling, but then again, a non trivial amount of people are still wearing masks outside and hand sanitizing whenever they go inside.
Peter Schiff….
One of the most entertaining finance guys on Youtube, and from the beginning of these covid years he has been telling of crypto’s Ponziness. He goes head to head with the Bit Coin sharks – Schiff is a ‘Gold Bug’ on really big debates telling exactly that to the Bit Coin ‘Hodlers’.
There is No value in Crypto, it is merely private Fiat, and backed by nothing. It is a very bad medium of exchange because of the transaction cost of ‘spending’ it; and rarely is worth the same thing more than twice (once going up, the other time going down), and is Not a ‘Store of Value’ because it makes 70% swings in months. It is nothing – just a mass psychosis of speculators. (It is not an investment as it has no actual worth, the only reason anyone would buy it is hoping some even bigger fool will pay even more for this value free token, or international criminals, or CIA for their nefarious underhand dealings, haha)
I have hopes for a gold and silver backed ‘Token’ on Blockchain. That will be a store of value, it will have actual value backing it. You will have to pay for the place which stores the gold though – so it is not perfect as it will decline very slowly as the storage is deducted. It is time to buy some gold….it is looking scary out there.
If you own Gold but not Bitcoin, you might be a fool.
If you own Bitcoin but not Gold, you are a fool.