Coinbase Global, Inc. operates platform for crypto assets in the United States and internationally. It provides the primary financial account in the crypto economy for consumers; a brokerage platform with a pool of liquidity across the crypto marketplace for institutions; and a suite of products granting access to build onchain for developers. The company was founded in 2012 and is …
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Competitive advantage assessment
Key strengths
Improving Margin TrajectoryMargin trajectory is improving (trend score 0.93).
Key risks
Fee Margin PressureFee margin quality is below peers (score 0.36).
Below-Peer Return on EquityReturn on equity lags peers (score 0.29).
The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks
against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.
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Where COIN ranks in Financial Data & Stock Exchanges
Coinbase Global, Inc. ranks #11 of 15
scored companies in Financial Data & Stock Exchanges by moat score — the top 73%.
The widest moat in the group is CME Group Inc. (CME)
at 82/100.
Moat scores for companies ranked near COIN in Financial Data & Stock Exchanges
How COIN scores on the Asset Management Specialized defenses
Fee Revenue Quality
Score 27
· 20% of the moat score
Fee revenue quality is the ability to charge above the industry's falling average and keep charging it.
Client Retention & Revenue Stickiness
Score 28
· 18% of the moat score
Assets under management leave far more easily than they arrive, and the fee leaves with them.
Compensation Discipline
Score 69
· 18% of the moat score
Compensation is the largest expense in asset management and the one that decides whether a good year ever reaches shareholders.
Capital Efficiency
Score 32
· 20% of the moat score
Asset managers are asset-light: with little capital employed, a healthy business should earn a very high return on equity, and a merely average one is a real warning.
Earnings Quality & Cash Conversion
Score 44
· 14% of the moat score
Reported profits here can be flattered by performance fees, seed-capital gains and consolidated fund accounting, none of which recur reliably.
Balance Sheet Strength
Score 28
· 10% of the moat score
Because the business needs so little capital, an asset manager carrying meaningful debt has usually borrowed to buy another manager or to fund distributions.
Coinbase Global, Inc. (COIN) scores 38 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as developing. It ranks #11 of 15 scored companies in Financial Data & Stock Exchanges, the top 73%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 14 companies in Financial Data & Stock Exchanges. Its strongest defense is Compensation Discipline (69/100) and its weakest is Fee Revenue Quality (27/100).
How does Coinbase Global, Inc. compare with other Financial Data & Stock Exchanges companies?
Coinbase Global, Inc. ranks #11 of 15 scored companies in Financial Data & Stock Exchanges by moat score. The widest moat in Financial Data & Stock Exchanges is CME Group Inc. (CME) at 82/100. The companies ranked closest are S&P Global Inc. (SPGI) at 41 just above it and TransUnion (TRU) at 34 just below it.
How is the moat score calculated?
Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Asset Management Specialized in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 14 companies in Financial Data & Stock Exchanges. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.
Why is Coinbase Global, Inc. scored with the Asset Management Specialized template?
An asset manager owns almost nothing. It charges a fee on someone else's money, pays much of that fee out in compensation, and keeps the remainder — so its economics turn on the fee rate it can defend, whether client money stays, and how much revenue survives the bonus pool. The Asset Management template scores those questions rather than the balance sheet, which in this industry is largely beside the point.
Which competitive defenses are measured for Coinbase Global, Inc.?
The Asset Management Specialized template measures 6 defenses, and COIN scores: Fee Revenue Quality (27), Client Retention & Revenue Stickiness (28), Compensation Discipline (69), Capital Efficiency (32), Earnings Quality & Cash Conversion (44), Balance Sheet Strength (28). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.
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