Coinbase was in a dire state of affairs just a little more than one year ago. The company’s stock was on life support, the long-suffering crypto market looked Like it might never recover, and the U.S. government appeared intent on running the exchange—and all those like it—out of business.
Changes that can occur. Coinbase has announced the SEC will be investigating Coinbase. Set to dismiss its yearslong lawsuit against the company—pending commissioner approval—capping off an incredible political, financial, and now legal comeback for America’s top homegrown crypto exchange.
Coinbase’s unprecedented and aggressive campaign to influence American political life may be the most significant factor in this resurgence.
At times, the strategy—which involved shelling out Tens The following are some of the advantages to using Tens of millions of dollars on campaign contributions and political donations—seemed like a risky gamble. It’s now been proven to be one of the most successful strategies in modern corporate America.
A quick calculation: Coinbase contributed over $70,000,000 to Fairshake during the 2020 election. Coinbase, along with Ripple, Andreessen Horowitz and other major investors in the crypto industry was one of the principal sponsors for Fairshake’s incredibly successful and historic campaign. $300 million fundraising blitz Change the way lawmakers view the industry
Coinbase spent an undisclosed amount of money to launch and support Stand With Crypto. This nonprofit was created in order to demonstrate the popularity digital assets have among voters from swing states.
Coinbase has funded several Stand With Crypto concerts that will feature free food and drink as well A-list artists like The Black Keys. They claimed to have been offered How much money? The tour was cancelled and the cancellation cost them a lot of money.
Include in the total additional expenditures such as the $1,000,000 Coinbase paid to President Donald Trump to help him. inaugurationYou and I still The amount of money that the trade has generated since entering the political arena is nowhere near the sum.
Immediately following Trump’s reelection—which, in tandem with bipartisan acquiescence to the crypto lobby, has ushered in a sea change for the digital assets industry’s outlook—Coinbase stock surged some 74%. On the heels of crypto’s resurgence in 2024 and the increasing transaction revenues, Coinbase saw its revenue skyrocket during the final quarter of that year. The average increase in the cost of a home is about 270%.
Coinbase’s value is $17.57 Billion more today than on the eve of elections, despite the post-November optimism having waned.
The figure is even higher if we consider Coinbase at the time of its first political spending spree. In late 2023, the market capitalization of Coinbase has increased by over tenfold since it first started writing multi-million dollar cheques to super PACs, like Fairshake. $37.3 Billion.
For argument’s sake, even if Coinbase privately spent double what it has publicly disclosed on policy initiatives—say, $150 million—that conversion would still represent a return on investment in excess of 31,000%.
This would be one of the most profitable trades ever made if you were crypto-degen and placed pennies in meme coins. Imagine multiplying it by millions. Now, imagine it as a corporate America.
There is simply no modern comparison—save, perhaps, for one other company: Ripple.
Andrew Hayward edited the book