Coinbase One subscriptions launch as the crypto company squares off with the SEC

Hey, look at that; Coinbase brought its subscription service, Coinbase One, out of beta. TechCrunch reports the program is available in the US, UK, Germany, and Ireland, with plans to roll out in 31 more countries in the coming months. Coinbase’s senior director of product management, Phil McDonnell, told TechCrunch, “Maybe 18 months ago, it was very transactional. People come in, trade, pay a fee, and that was the relationship.”

The subscription brings benefits like no trading fees (under a per-user trading volume limit), boosted staking rewards, and more, over a year and a half after Coinbase began testing it in November 2021. In exchange, it brings more recurring revenue streams at a time the company might need them because the regulatory battles Coinbase is fighting are expensive.

McDonnell continued, “Through the bull market 18 months to two years ago, there was tons of growth, but we wanted customers to stay.” TechCrunch notes that Coinbase subscription and services revenue saw 138 percent growth in the first quarter of this year, earning $361.7 million, as compared to $152 million the previous year.

Coinbase is tussling with a weaker crypto market that, after the past few years, has fewer active traders as well as a US Securities and Exchange Commission investigation over alleged securities lawbreaking. In January, the company was hit with a $50 million fine by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) for breaking anti-money laundering laws, plus a requirement to spend another $50 million on compliance.

Broader US government interest in the dealings of crypto firms includes investigations or legal moves from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Department of Justice. It’s been a rough year and a half for crypto.