The jaw-dropping collapse of the cryptocurrency market in 2022 makes sense in hindsight. Tighter monetary conditions, particularly rapidly rising interest rates, forced investors to seek out safer assets as opposed to more speculative ones. And the overall market for digital assets tanked last year.
Amid the chaos, Coinbase Global (COIN -0.34%) wasn't spared, as it's one of the leading cryptocurrency brokerage and exchange businesses in the world. Unsurprisingly, its operations took a hit in 2022, as interest in digital tokens came under pressure, causing revenue to decline substantially.
Even though the stock is up 55% so far in 2023, it's still down 85% from the all-time high set in Nov. 2021 (as of this writing). This could present itself as a potential opportunity. Here are three reasons to consider buying the stock today.
Weathering the crypto winter
Anyone who follows digital assets knows how much the market's long-term price movements are characterized by wild cycles. What happened in 2022 started what's called a crypto winter, or a period of waning interest and falling asset prices for the entire market. The overall crypto market cap right now is $1.2 trillion, more than one-third of its peak of almost $3 trillion in late 2021.
Because Coinbase generated 75% of its revenue from transaction fees in 2022, the business is overly exposed to investor interest in the asset class. And transaction revenue declined 66% last year. What's discouraging is that this is largely outside of the company's control.
But Coinbase had $5.5 billion of available liquidity (as of Dec. 31) to continue weathering the storm like it did last year. And it has already proven to be incredibly profitable when times are good, exemplified by its profit margin of 49% in 2021. I don't think crypto is dead. It's just going through a difficult stretch. Once the economy is on better footing and investors flock to these digital assets again as they've already demonstrated this year, Coinbase is on its way to posting strong financial results.
Selling at a cheap valuation
With the stock down so much, it currently trades at a price-to-sales (P/S) multiple of 3.8, which is close to the cheapest that it's been since the business went public in April 2021. At that time, shares were selling at a P/S ratio of over 20, so things have definitely calmed down in the following two years.
But the valuation has soared so far in 2023. The P/S ratio was at around 1.5 at the turn of the calendar, so investors who were smart and lucky enough to buy the stock then are sitting on an outstanding gain right now. To be clear, this doesn't mean it's too late to buy shares.
It's still a correct assumption that the pessimism surrounding Coinbase is at elevated levels. And that makes sense, given how uncertain the company's financials can be from quarter to quarter. If you're an investor who can adopt a truly long-term mindset that spans five to 10 years, then Coinbase looks like an attractive buying opportunity, which brings me to my last point.
A bet on the crypto economy
I mentioned before how Coinbase is dependent on transaction fees for its success. In turn, these rely on rising crypto asset prices. As prices go up, investor interest and trading soar. And this benefits Coinbase with more users and revenue. But the opposite can happen as well, like in 2022.
Founder and CEO Brian Armstrong is fully aware of this. And his overarching goal is to transition Coinbase away from being a purely trading and brokerage business to one with more stable and predictable sources of revenue. During the last three months of 2022, Coinbase generated $282.8 million in subscription and services revenue, up 33% year over year. This segment consists of custodial services, as well as blockchain rewards like staking, which has been under regulatory scrutiny.
The management team hopes to spearhead crypto's switch from an arena that's characterized mainly by financial speculation to one where users find greater utility from digital assets in their daily lives. And Coinbase strives to be the gateway to this crypto economy. Therefore, investors who are bullish on the future of crypto can buy Coinbase as a bet on the growth of the entire industry. And in doing so, they wouldn't have to choose individual tokens for their portfolios. That's another compelling reason to consider buying the stock.
