Coinbase Crushes Circle in Q1 USDC Revenue Showdown – Nano Futures for SOL & XRP Coming Soon

Coinbase just schooled Circle in the stablecoin revenue wars—racking up more USDC profits in Q1 while Wall Street was busy shorting the wrong horses.

Nano futures enter the ring: The exchange is rolling out bite-sized derivatives for SOL and XRP, because apparently even crypto needs a 'fun size' option now.

Behind the numbers: This isn't just about trading fees—it's a power move in the custody wars, where controlling stablecoin flows means controlling the casino's chip supply.

Bonus cynicism: Nothing unites tradFi and crypto like watching institutions finally understand that stablecoins are just shadow banking with better marketing.

Coinbase out-earned Circle across multiple revenue streams

The USDC revenue for Coinbase came from two main streams. On-platform, the exchange had $13 billion in USDC balances at the end of Q1, which brought in $125 million with margins between 20% and 25%.

Off-platform, the numbers were even stronger. Coinbase splits revenue from the Circle Reserve Fund equally with Circle, collecting an additional $170 million, and that came in at nearly 100% profit margin.

In total, this gave Coinbase a massive revenue lead in the very stablecoin it operates jointly with Circle. While Circle managed the backend and compliance, Coinbase benefited from custody, balances, and its investor agreement.

The data shows how the exchange is pulling income from every angle of the USDC structure, without even being the issuer.

JPMorgan’s research team said the market still underestimates the importance of the USDC ecosystem for Coinbase’s financial outlook. And despite this earnings outperformance, the bank kept a neutral stance on the stock, which suggests the valuation already factors in some of this growth.

Coinbase Derivatives to launch nano XRP and SOL futures on August 18

Coinbase is expanding trading products too. Coinbase Derivatives announced it will launch nano-sized perpetual futures contracts for both XRP and solana (SOL) on August 18.

The contracts are USD-settled, five years in length, and built to track spot price movement using a funding rate mechanism that adjusts account balances through clearing cash adjustments.

The nano XRP contract, labeled XPP, will represent 500 XRP per contract and be financially settled in USD. Trading begins each Friday at 6:00 PM ET and runs until the next Friday at 5:00 PM, with a weekly one-hour break.

The price increment is $0.0001 per XRP, and each tick is valued at $0.05. The first listed contract expires on the third Friday of December 2030, with only one contract active at a time per five-year window.

When the contract month begins, the next expiration month is automatically listed. Trading ends at 4:00 PM London time on expiration Friday, or the day before, if that Friday is a market holiday. The position limit is 700,000 contracts.

The same structure applies to the nano Solana contract, called SLP. Each contract will represent 5 SOL, with a price increment of $0.01, and each tick also valued at $0.05. Trading hours and expiration structure mirror the XRP product. The position cap is lower at 340,000 contracts.

Both contracts follow the same rule for hard forks: any new token from a fork won’t be added to the trading index unless it becomes the dominant chain. Any index changes will be communicated in advance by The Exchange, working with the Index provider.

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