What Happened: For the first time in the nine years since Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ:COIN) was launched, Ethereum’s (CRYPTO: ETH) trading volume outpaced Bitcoin’s (CRYPTO: BTC) on the crypto trading platform.
In its Q2 earnings report, Coinbase reported that Ethereum accounted for 26% of its trading volume, surpassing Bitcoin, which accounted for 24% of the $462 billion in trading volumes reported during the second quarter.
According to the exchange, Bitcoin’s volumes declined 39% since Q1, while Ethereum’s volume increased by 23% over the same period.
Interesting data point from the @Coinbase Q2 results – ETH trading now bigger share than BTC trading. pic.twitter.com/a01JN2kHmx
— Boris Wertz (@bwertz) August 10, 2021
Coinbase attributed Ethereum’s growth in trading activity to the growth in the DeFi and NFT ecosystems, along with increased demand for its ETH2 staking product.
Meanwhile, the exchange reported a 38% overall increase in trading volume between the first and second quarters.
Notably, institutional trading volume saw a 47% increase over the period and stood at $317 billion, bringing the number to nearly 70% of the overall volume.
“In the quarter, Institutional onboarding to the Coinbase platform increased rapidly as well as higher capital allocations into crypto,” said the exchange.
What Else: Coinbase also beat out analyst estimates, reporting $2.23 billion in revenue for the second quarter of 2021.
The crypto exchange’s net income for Q2 was $1.6 billion, up an enormous 4900% from the $32 million reported in Q2 2020.
“Q2 was a strong quarter for Coinbase with growth and diversification across our platform,” said the exchange.
Despite market volatility, Coinbase asserted that adoption continued at a rapid pace throughout the quarter, evidenced by 9,000 financial institutions that now use the platform to trade crypto.
“In addition, in recent months, we have formed partnerships with industry leaders, including Elon Musk, PNC Bank, SpaceX, Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), Third Point LLC, and WisdomTree Investments,” said Coinbase.
Price Action: Coinbase shares gained 3.93% during the pre-market session, reaching a price of $269.
Ethereum was trading $3,220, with a 1.28% increase in price, while Bitcoin went up 0.45% and wast trading at $46,059 at press time.
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