Barely more than a year ago, Coinbase’s outlook was a grim one. The company’s stock was on life support, the long-suffering crypto market looked like it might never recover, and the U.S. government appeared intent on running the exchange—and all those like it—out of business.
How things can change. On Friday, Coinbase announced that the SEC is set to dismiss its years-long lawsuit against the company—pending commissioner approval—capping off an incredible political, financial, and now legal comeback for America’s top homegrown crypto exchange.
While numerous factors are to thank for that stunning resurgence, few may have had as much direct impact as Coinbase’s aggressive and unprecedented campaign to influence American politics.
At times, the strategy—which involved shelling out tens upon tens of millions of dollars on campaign contributions and political donations—seemed like a risky gamble. Now, it’s been vindicated as one of the most profitable strategies in the modern history of corporate America.
Some quick back-of-the-napkin math: Over the course of the 2024 election, Coinbase spent over $70 million on contributions to Fairshake, the pro-crypto super PAC. Along with Ripple and Andreessen Horowitz, Coinbase was a principal backer of Fairshake’s historic and incredibly effective $300 million fundraising blitz to change lawmakers’ view of the industry.
Coinbase also spent undisclosed millions launching and supporting Stand With Crypto, a nonprofit intended to showcase the popularity of digital assets among swing state voters.
Over the course of 2024, Coinbase bankrolled several flashy Stand With Crypto concerts featuring free food, drink, and A-list acts like The Black Keys. The band said they were offered so much money to play the gig that, despite their ambivalence about crypto, they couldn’t afford to turn it down following the financial hit from a previous tour cancellation.
Add to the till additional political expenditures like the $1 million Coinbase spent to support President Donald Trump’s inauguration, and you still are nowhere close to the amount of money the exchange has reaped since jumping into the political fray.
Immediately following Trump’s reelection—which, in tandem with bipartisan acquiescence to the crypto lobby, has ushered in a sea change for the digital assets industry’s outlook—Coinbase stock surged some 74%. In the last fiscal quarter of 2024, on the heels of the crypto market’s parallel resurgence, the exchange saw its transaction revenue explode by some 270%.
Though post-November euphoria has worn off a bit, Coinbase is, today, worth $17.57 billion more than it was on election eve.
That figure grows even more steeply if one considers Coinbase’s position at the start of its political spending spree. Since late 2023, when the exchange first began cutting multi-million dollar checks to super PACs like Fairshake, its market capitalization has skyrocketed by over $47.3 billion.
For argument’s sake, even if Coinbase privately spent double what it has publicly disclosed on policy initiatives—say, $150 million—that conversion would still represent a return on investment in excess of 31,000%.
If you were a crypto degen betting pennies on meme coins, then that return would unquestionably represent one of the greatest trades of all time. Now multiply it by the millions, and place it in the context of corporate America.
There is simply no modern comparison—save, perhaps, for one other company: Ripple.
Edited by Andrew Hayward