Coinbase vs. Robinhood: how they make money

• Consumers (trading fees) · 46.3% of revenuePeople trading crypto in the Coinbase app, and since 2025 also stocks, futures and prediction markets.
• Circle (stablecoin revenue) · 18.8% of revenueCircle shares the income from the reserves behind USDC under the Circle Agreement.
• Blockchain networks (staking rewards) · 9.4% of revenueNetworks such as Ethereum pay rewards on staked crypto. Coinbase passes most of them to customers, an expense, and keeps a commission.
• Institutions (trading fees) · 6.7% of revenueMarket makers, hedge funds, asset managers and others trading through Coinbase Prime and its exchanges.
• Other sources · 18.8% of revenueOther transaction revenue (3.5%), interest and finance fees (3.4%), custody, Coinbase One and other services (7.7%), and interest on Coinbase's own cash (4.1%); the parts are rounded separately. Shares are a Cityfort calculation from the FY2025 10-K.

• Market makers and exchanges · 55.0% of revenueThey pay Robinhood for customers' stock, option and crypto orders. On stocks and options this is payment for order flow; on crypto, transaction rebates.
• Customers, banks and others · 45.0% of revenueThe remaining 45% is 100 minus 55, a Cityfort calculation from FY2025 10-K/A, after interest Robinhood itself pays; filings do not split it by payer. It includes customers' margin interest ($573M), Cash Sweep from partner banks ($229M) and Gold fees ($179M).

FY2025; revenue by type, not segments

FY2025; revenue by source, not segments

Debt

$6.7B

Cash and investments

$8.6B

On Sep 30, 2026.

Coinbase had $8.60 billion of cash and cash equivalents at Sep 30, 2026, against $6.70 billion of debt and short-term borrowings, so cash exceeded debt by $1.91 billion (Cityfort calculation from the Q3 FY2026 10-Q).

Debt

$3.5B

Cash and investments

$5.8B

On Sep 30, 2026.

Robinhood owed $3.54 billion of borrowings at Sep 30, 2026, against $5.83 billion of its own cash; payables to users, securities loaned and fractional shares owed to customers were $43.08 billion (Cityfort calculation from Q3 FY2026 10-Q) of its $48.19 billion of liabilities.

• 2 classes of shares (votes per share: Class A common stock 1, Class B common stock 20).
• Officers and directors as a group: 16.1% of shares, 60.4% of votes (as of Mar 31, 2026).
• Brian Armstrong, co-founder, Chair and CEO (% of Class B): 62.5% of its class, 49.6% of votes (as of Mar 31, 2026).
• Trusts set up by Brian Armstrong, with an independent trustee (% of Class B): 24.0% of its class, 18.9% of votes (as of Mar 31, 2026).
• Fred Ehrsam, co-founder and director (% of Class B): 13.4% of its class, 10.6% of votes (as of Mar 31, 2026).
• 2 more holders on the Coinbase page.

• 2 classes of shares (votes per share: Class A common stock 1, Class B common stock 10).
• Officers and directors as a group: 13.4% of shares, 58.6% of votes (as of Apr 8, 2026).
• Baiju Bhatt, co-founder and director (% of Class B): 55.7% of its class, 32.0% of votes (as of Apr 8, 2026).
• Vladimir Tenev, co-founder, Chair and CEO (% of Class B): 44.9% of its class, 26.1% of votes (as of Apr 8, 2026).
• Vanguard Capital Management (% of Class A): 7.5% (as of Apr 30, 2026).
• 1 more holders on the Robinhood page.

• Crypto price swings move net income (other)Coinbase holds crypto as an investment at fair value, $2.22 billion at Sep 30, 2026, and books price changes below operating income. That produced a $715.0 million gain in Q3 FY2026 and a $718.2 million loss in Q4 FY2025.
• Security of customer assets and data (technology)Coinbase held the keys to $376.6 billion of customers' crypto and stablecoins at Sep 30, 2026 and may be liable for losses from theft. The May 2025 data theft cost $345.2 million net in FY2025.
• Debt rated below investment grade (debt)Coinbase had $6.0 billion of debt principal at Sep 30, 2026, maturing from 2028 to 2032. S&P rated it BB- at Dec 31, 2025, and Moody's B1 for the company after an August 2025 upgrade.

• Net interest moves with interest rates and share lending (pricing)Net interest was 30.6% of revenue in the first nine months of 2026. It fell 9% to $415 million in Q3 FY2026, which Robinhood ties to lower share lending and lower short-term rates. Net share lending was −$19 million in that quarter, against $87 million a year earlier.
• Credit losses are rising with lending (other)The provision for credit losses was $163 million in the first nine months of 2026, up from $78 million a year earlier. Its Oct 27, 2026 release ties higher provisions to growth in card loans. Card loans held by its trust were $1.51 billion at Sep 30, 2026, and margin loans $22.1 billion.
• Clearinghouse deposits can swing quickly (liquidity)Robinhood's broker-dealer must post deposits with clearinghouses, and the 10-K says these requirements fluctuate significantly. It cites its early 2021 trading restrictions as an example of what can follow. Credit lines of $1.125 billion and $3.325 billion were undrawn at Sep 30, 2026.
• Other lawsuits and regulators (regulation)Open matters listed in the Q3 FY2026 10-Q include a class action on best execution, suits over the early 2021 trading restrictions and the IPO, a Cash Sweep class action, and regulators' inquiries. Robinhood says reasonably possible losses it can estimate are not material in aggregate, but it cannot estimate many of them.