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Square misses earnings on bitcoin trading dip

Revenue was up almost a billion compared to the year ago period, but still fell short of expectations.

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Bitcoin revenue, which is a gross measure of total sale of crypto to customers, was less than expected.

Square

Square missed earnings expectations in the third quarter on a drop in cryptocurrency trading revenue.

Revenue came in at $3.84 billion, up from $3.03 billion in the year ago period, but short of expectations of $4.39 billion. Bitcoin revenue, which is a gross measure of total sale of crypto to customers, was $1.82 billion, compared to expectations of $2.56 billion.

Square said in its investor letter: "Compared to the second quarter of 2021, bitcoin revenue and gross profit decreased on a quarter-over-quarter basis, driven primarily by relative stability in the price of bitcoin, which affected trading activity compared to prior quarters."

Robinhood also saw a drop in crypto trading revenue in its most recent quarter.

Tomio Geron

Tomio Geron ( @tomiogeron) is a San Francisco-based reporter covering fintech. He was previously a reporter and editor at The Wall Street Journal, covering venture capital and startups. He was also as a staff writer at Forbes covering social media and venture capital, and edited the Midas List of top tech investors. He can be reached at tgeron@protocol.com or tgeron@protonmail.com.

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