Famed short seller Jim Chanos said Wednesday that he’s still short Coinbase even as shares of the crypto exchange rallied more than 70% this year alone. “It’s a narrative stock. It’s not a fundamental stock. And by that, I mean, people buy it because they have a view on crypto prices, or crypto survival, or what have you,” Chanos said on CNBC’s ” Closing Bell ” Wednesday. “The fact of the matter, as we saw last night, is Coinbase is still losing money.” Coinbase on Tuesday reported user numbers that fell short of analysts’ estimates even as fourth-quarter earnings and revenue beat projections. The crypto exchange reported $629 million in revenue, compared to $590 million as expected by Refinitiv analysts. The company said it had 8.3 million monthly transacting users (MTUs) during the fourth quarter, down from 8.5 million the prior period. COIN 1Y mountain Coinbase The founder of Chanos & Co. said that Coinbase makes money in two areas — increased commission rates for retail investors and omission of interest on customer deposits. “They actually raised commission rates for retail. Effectively… round trips for the fourth quarter were costing retail investors 3%, up from 2.7% in the previous quarter,” Chanos said. “I just don’t think that’s a sustainable model as we go from 0% interest rates to 5% interest rates, not paying interest on customer deposits will also be competed away.” Coinbase has gone through two major rounds of layoffs since June 2022 in an attempt to trim spending to preserve cash. The exchange cut 20% of its staff last month , following an 18% reduction of its workforce in 2022. Still, shares of Coinbase have bounced back 72% this year, following an 86% selloff in 2022. A spokesperson at Coinbase said the company had no comment on Chanos’ remarks.
