Fund Manager Jim Chanos Says He’s Shorting Coinbase
The founder of Kynikos Associates called the crypto exchange a “bubble stock” in a CNBC interview.
Mar 18, 2022 at 11:08 p.m. UTCUpdated May 11, 2023 at 5:59 p.m. UTC
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Jim Chanos told CNBC Friday he’s shorting cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN), calling it a “bubble stock.”
- Chanos expects fee compression as competition increases across crypto exchanges, and doesn’t think Coinbase can be profitable this year.
- “We basically think Coinbase is over earning,” Chanos said in the interview. “If you do the numbers, their revenue base is roughly 3% to 4% of their custodian assets, their customer assets.”
- CNBC’s report did not mention the size of Chanos’ short position.
- Wall Street has remained positive on the longer-term outlook for Coinbase, despite expectations for some near-term headwinds. Analysts expect Coinbase to diversify its revenue from different segments, including non-fungible tokens (NFT).
- Coinbase shares were down about 1.8% in after-hours trading Friday, and have fallen 26% this year.
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Michael Bellusci is CoinDesk's crypto reporter focused on public companies and digital asset firms.