Key Insights:
- The cryptocurrency exchange platform ranks 437th in the Fortune 500 annual list, ahead of Hertz and Victoria’s Secret.
- The total revenue of the Fortune 500 is $16.1 trillion, which is two-thirds of the United States’ gross domestic product (GDP)
Coinbase, a leading crypto exchange platform, is the first cryptocurrency company to enter the Fortune 500 and sits at the 437th position. The Fortune 500 is a list of the largest companies in America by their revenue. Fortune editor-in-chief Alyson Shontell singled out the company, being one of “several pandemic winners” that “thrived under the freakish circumstances of COVID.”
Although Coinbase has been struggling due to unfavorable market conditions, it managed to cut due to its 2021 revenue. In the first quarter of 2022, Coinbase posted a net loss of $430 million and net revenue of $1.16 billion. The company’s net revenue as of the fourth quarter of 2021 was $2.49 billion.
Typically, Fortune ranks companies according to their revenues in the previous year. Additionally, for a company to make the Fortune 500 cut, it must exceed the revenue threshold for 2022, which is $6.4 billion. The threshold increased by 19% from that of last year. According to Fortune, Coinbase’s revenue for 2021 was $7.8 billion earning it a spot on the annual list.
Due to the plunge in crypto prices in recent months, different exchanges have witnessed drops in trading volumes. For example, earlier in the month, Coinbase’s shares plummeted to around $40, an 88% fall from over $328 when they debuted. However, they are presently trading at $66.
When the year was about to begin, the company intended to triple its size. Unfortunately, the unfavorable market conditions have caused the company to slow its hiring. Recently, Emilie Choi, president and chief operating officer at Coinbase, said,
“Heading into this year, we planned to triple the company’s size. Given current market conditions, we feel it’s prudent to slow hiring and reassess our headcount needs against our highest-priority business goals.”
Coinbase comes ahead of Victoria’s Secret, Hertz, Oh, Chipotle Mexican Grill, and Xerox, to mention a few. Walmart topped the list for the 10th consecutive year with about $573 billion in revenues. In second place was Amazon, with revenues of about $470 billion, while Apple came in third place with revenues of roughly $365 billion.
