One of the big concerns for investors in Coinbase Global is that, despite the company having a role in many of the spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds that were launched, the new way of acquiring cryptocurrencies would hurt its main crypto brokerage.
At one competitor, thatâs not been the case. Robinhood Markets
HOOD,
CFO Jason Warnick said the spot bitcoin ETF hasnât hurt demand elsewhere.
Related: Robinhoodâs stock soars as retail investors wade back into the market
âSo far, weâre seeing nice interest in the ETFs, but we think itâs additive,â he said, according to a transcript compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence. âAbout 5% of our overall trading in crypto is through the ETF, with 95% still being on spot trading through the crypto business. And thatâs stabilized.â
On the ETFs, he added: âWe think it increases overall market interest in crypto and also brings liquidity to the market. So net-net, weâre really pleased with the Bitcoin ETFs.â
Granted, crypto is a small part of Robinhoodâs business. In January, for example, it averaged 1.7 million equity trades, 0.7 million options trades and 0.3 million crypto trades.
Coinbase shares
COIN,
have drifted since the Jan. 11 spot bitcoin ETF launch, though over 52 weeks they have more than doubled.
Coinbase reports results on Thursday, though thatâs for the fourth quarter when the spot bitcoin ETFs werenât on the market. Itâs due to take shareholder questions.
