The cryptocurrency market has struggled during 2018 and lost over 75 percent from its peak in January. Even so, many exchanges have had billions in revenue, according to recent news.

The exchanges with the largest revenues

Even though the market has come tumbling down the past year, many have still made big gains. Especially the exchanges, and Coinbase Inc, among others, is projecting a yearly revenue of nearly $1,3 billion, according to Bloomberg. Earlier this month, Coinbase raised in valuation to $8 billion which means that Coinbase is one of the worlds most valuable startups. Even more astonishing is that the valuation is five times higher than it was last year. The forecasted revenue of $1,3 billion in sales 2018 comes from the commission of its trading platform, as well as from gains and losses from the companies crypto holdings.

Coinbase is not the only exchange that has banked big profits. Binance, the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchange booked profits of $7,5 million during the first quarter and over $200 million during the second quarter of 2018, according to a Linkedin post from Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao which came out a few months ago. He states:

“Binance is the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. In the first three months from inception, profits amounted to $7,500,000. In the 2nd quarter, profits amounted to $200,000,000. The 3rd quarter is still in progress and is expected to have further growth. Any country that can attract Binance to open a branch in their location will receive a handsome tax income revenue.”

Upbit and Bithumb, two of the largest exchanges in South Korea, have reportedly been recording a monthly revenue of $100 million in early 2018 mainly from transaction and withdrawal fees.

Why are Exchanges making so much money?

A few weeks ago Toshi Times covered the story on how Coinbase had negotiated for an $8 billion valuation and for that reason became the highest valued startup in the US. The revenue comes from fees and commissions for most of the exchanges, and Julie Verhage at Bloomberg stated where Coinbase revenue streams came from:

“The company’s $1.3 billion in sales for 2018 comes from the commissions on trades on its platform, as well as from gains and losses in its crypto holdings. Because the firm looks at several internal measures of revenue, the exact figures can vary,”

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