Crypto Exchanges Shift Strategies Amid Falling Trading Revenue
Three major listed crypto exchanges, Coinbase, Bullish, and Gemini, have seen a drop in trading revenue during the second quarter of this year. Despite the decline, these exchanges are shifting their strategies to adapt to the changing market structure.
Coinbase has been expanding its product portfolio, which includes stablecoin products like USD Coin (USDC). The company has allowed USDC rewards to grow, with average USDC held in Coinbase products increasing by 44% year-over-year to $20 billion. Coinbase claims it captures around half of all USDC economics.
Gemini is focusing on prediction markets and has tripled the number of market makers this year. The company started paying rebates to those firms and rewards to users of the prediction market. However, Gemini received only 18% more revenue from this business ($524,000) despite a nearly doubling in the number of bets.
Bullish exchange is taking steps to expand its tokenized securities business and has introduced a new rewards program. While adjusted transaction revenue dropped 21% in the quarter, Bullish still saw an increase of 24% compared to Q2 2025.