Coinbase safeguards more of crypto than you might think

Coinbase’s final total for Q3: $331 billion, the equivalent of 15% of the total crypto market cap at the time

article-image

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong | TechCrunch/"518392245AG024_TechCrunch_D" (CC license)

share


This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.


Air traffic control is often pegged as the most stressful job in the world. 

Managing private key security at Coinbase might just take the cake. 

Coinbase is big. Influential. On the front lines of the war for hearts, minds and regulatory clarity.

There’s no greater way to prove Coinbase’s standing in the crypto space than by just how much of it is given to it for safekeeping.

We know now that Coinbase users held $272.7 billion in crypto at the end of September, plus an additional $4 billion in cash. 

That’s nearly $3.5 billion more crypto than at the end of June — probably in part boosted by rising asset prices — and $200 million less cash than the prior period.

Then, there’s all the crypto tied up in Grayscale’s suite of ETPs and ETFs: $22.62 billion at Q3’s close, per Arkham Intelligence data. Grayscale went all-in on Coinbase Custody back in 2019. 

Another $31.7 billion is custodied on behalf of other ETF issuers like BlackRock, Bitwise and Ark/21Shares. 

Three nickels of every dollar of crypto value on the planet is kept with Coinbase

Coinbase’s final total for Q3: $331 billion, the equivalent of 15% of the total crypto market cap at the time.

And if you want to go even deeper: Chainalysis recently estimated that about 1.8 million BTC could be lost forever — or 9.1% of the circulating supply. 

Scrub that from crypto’s market cap, along with the 1.1 million lost Satoshi coins, and Coinbase would technically be sitting on closer to 17% of crypto’s remaining paper value.

No doubt, Coinbase recognizes the significance of it all. Still, the way things are going, Coinbase could go down as one of the most aptly named companies in fintech history: 

A base for literally all the coins.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

  • Blockworks Daily: The newsletter that helps thousands of investors understand crypto and the markets, by Byron Gilliam.
  • Empire: Start your morning with the top news and analysis to inform your day in crypto.
  • Forward Guidance: Reporting and analysis on the growing intersection of crypto and macroeconomics, policy and finance.
  • 0xResearch: Alpha directly in your inbox. Market highlights, data, degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance and more.
  • Lightspeed: Built for Solana investors, developers and community members. The latest from one of crypto’s hottest networks.
  • The Drop: For crypto collectors and traders, covering apps, games, memes and more.
  • Supply Shock: Tracking Bitcoin’s rise from internet plaything worth less than a penny to global phenomenon disrupting money as we know it.
Tags

Upcoming Events

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research

article-image

Top Committee Democrat Sen. Elizabeth Warren in her opening statement accused Atkins of “helping billionaire CEOs like Sam Bankman-Fried”

article-image

Introducing garbled circuits for enhanced privacy and regulatory compliance

article-image

Ross Ulbricht was a freedom maximalist building freedom tech, powered by Bitcoin

article-image

Solana validators can reap benefits including payments, votes and community clout

article-image

Sponsored

WalletConnect is cementing itself as the essential connectivity layer, ensuring wallets remain the entry point for billions of users

article-image

According to a legal filing, Galaxy Digital helped boost the price of LUNA while quietly selling its tokens