4 hours ago
Coinbase (COIN) has its ain strategy for BTC connected the firm equilibrium sheet, but it's not a bitcoin maximalist play similar that of Michael Saylor's Strategy (MSTR).
On the company's archetypal 4th 2025 net call, CFO Alesia Haas revealed that Coinbase purchased $150 cardinal successful crypto, “predominantly bitcoin,” bringing its semipermanent concern portfolio to $1.3 billion, oregon 25% of nett cash.
Haas, however, went retired of her mode to gully a enactment betwixt Coinbase and firms that explicitly necktie their firm individuality to holding bitcoin connected the equilibrium sheet.
“To beryllium clear, we're an operating company,” she said. “But we bash put alongside the space.”
In different words, Coinbase isn’t betting the institution connected bitcoin. On a Q&A telephone with retail investors, Armstrong said determination was a temptation successful its aboriginal days to enactment a batch of BTC connected the equilibrium sheet, but it was excessively risky. Crypto is volatile and, astatine the time, Coinbase was excessively young of a institution to instrumentality that risk.
Now, arsenic a listed elephantine things person changed, but there's inactive not a request to spell all-in connected bitcoin. Coinbase is allocating profits from operations backmost into crypto assets, likewise to however a commodity steadfast mightiness accumulate earthy materials it understands deeply. The determination is little Michael Saylor and much sector-aligned superior recycling.
In fact, Coinbase didn’t adjacent trumpet the acquisition successful its shareholder letter. The quality lone surfaced successful effect to a retail shareholder's question astir “accruing hard crypto reserve assets.”
CEO Brian Armstrong didn’t talk straight astir the purchases, but helium did connection a philosophical context. Coinbase, helium reminded investors, isn’t dabbling successful crypto – it is crypto.
“We’ve been focused connected crypto since the beginning, 12 years ago, and we proceed to beryllium focused there,” Armstrong said. “Crypto is eating fiscal services.”
For Armstrong, buying BTC is simply a byproduct of condemnation and operational alignment and not a header play, treasury pivot, oregon activistic bet.
Coinbase isn’t holding BTC to awesome to markets immoderate broader conviction, oregon go a proxy similar MSTR. Behind the accounting connection is thing deeper: a long-view stake that holding Bitcoin, similar gathering the rails beneath it, is simply portion of Coinbase's job.
That's not a treasury strategy — it's thing successful the middle.
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