What happened
Shares of cryptocurrency brokerage Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN) spiked on Monday after an eventful weekend for cryptocurrencies. Surging volume for popular tokens like Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH) and Dogecoin (CRYPTO:DOGE) led to trading outages for some of Coinbase’s competitors, which is good for Coinbase. As of 2:40 p.m. EDT, Coinbase stock was up 11%.
So what
In a much anticipated event, Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk hosted Saturday Night Live. Musk has been a vocal supporter of Dogecoin in the past, and many believed the televised event could serve as a catalyst for the cryptocurrency to finally reach $1 each. Musk’s appearance on SNL didn’t cause the cryptocurrency to reach $1, but there was a lot of trading volume surrounding the event. As a result, Coinbase’s competitor Robinhood saw its cryptocurrency services briefly go down before being restored early Sunday morning.
Image source: Getty Images.
Dogecoin wasn’t the only cryptocurrency making headlines over the weekend. Ether, the tokens native to the Ethereum blockchain, surpassed $4,000 each on Sunday, extending their all-time high to over $4,200 today. Surging trades for Ethereum and Dogecoin caused Binance, another rival exchange to Coinbase, to halt withdrawals early this morning, as reported by Bloomberg.
And Elon Musk wasn’t the only celebrity throwing his weight behind a cryptocurrency. All-time great NFL quarterback Tom Brady added “laser eyes” to his social media profile picture this morning. Replacing your eyes with red, glowing lasers has become a popular way to indicate support for Bitcoin on social media.
As long as cryptocurrencies keep getting attention like this, it’s possible strong trading volumes will persist. And if rival brokerages can’t handle the volume, it could cause more people to turn to Coinbase.
Image source: Getty Images.
Now what
According to its registration statements, 96% of Coinbase’s revenue in 2020 was generated from transaction fees on volume-based trades. Some have questioned Coinbase’s long-term prospects, since increasing competition could drive down transaction fees for cryptocurrency — just like how Robinhood and other stock brokerages caused free trades to become the industry standard. However, as long as its rivals keep having hiccups, it’s possible Coinbase is winning new users despite its fees.
If you want to know how much trading volume Coinbase is currently handling, you’ll want to pay attention on May 13. That’s the day the company is scheduled to release financial results for the first quarter of 2021.
This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the “official” recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium advisory service. We’re motley! Questioning an investing thesis — even one of our own — helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer.