Coinbase (Coin) sold 12,652 ether ($ 25 million at the current price) in the fourth quarter, while it was evaluated about double the level now, according to Geoffrey Kendrick, global research manager on digital assets at Standard Bank.
In a note, Kendrick said that he had analyzed the quarterly Crypto Exchange deposits, which show that he holds Ether (ETH) in different categories, including investment and operational objectives. He estimates that around 80% of the income generated by base, the Ethereum Layer-2 blockchain in Coinbase, is a profit.
In particular, the time of the company’s transactions aligns the price movements, he said. Coinbase Net bought in the third quarter, when ETH was negotiated at around $ 2,500, and Net sold in the fourth, when the second largest cryptocurrency reached $ 4,000. It is now about $ 2,000.
“The fact that they were not purchased in the third quarter (when prices were low on average) and are not sold in the fourth quarter (higher average price) tell me that Coinbase acts as any profit of profit adjusted at risk,” wrote Kendrick.
Coinbase said he sold ether to finance operations, without saying how much was involved.
“The basis gains the ETH ETH of sequencer costs, and the ETH that we win is mainly held for long-term investments or used for operational expenses, including tax liabilities and reinvesting growth via things such as wages, subsidies, acquisitions and financing of public goods,” said a spokesperson in an email.
According to Kendrick’s calculations, during the last three quarters, clear sales of ETH have totaled 1,558, which implies a strategic sales model rather than accumulation. He reached his conclusion by subtracting the basic profits in the ETH changes in the assets of Coinbase Coinbase.
The spokesperson reiterated that the company does not generally participate in commercial activities.
“As shared in our 10K: ‘Cryptographic assets held for investment are mainly detained in the long term … We do not engage in regular trade in these assets, but we can lend them by privileged funding or put them in place.” Our ETH has experienced investments increased by 20% in 2024, “said the spokesperson.
This is not the first time that Coinbase has to respond to the suggestions that it sells the ether generated by the base. Last month, a basic member rejected speculation surrounding the potential ethnic sales saying that the exchange had “accumulated $ 300 million of Eth, which represents more than 2 times all the benefits of the database over time”.
