San-Francisco-based digital asset exchange Coinbase has experienced a decline in popularity amid the recent bearish sentiment on the cryptocurrency market, Quartz reported on Tuesday, citing data from app market research site App Annie.
In December, Coinbase’s download volume pushed the exchange to the top spot on US Finance apps charts. The jump coincided with Bitcoin’s price escalation to a record high of more than $19,000. Since then, BTC has lost around two-thirds of its value, dragging the whole altcoin market down. In a possible reflection of this trend, Coinbase’s app fell to the 40th position in the June download rankings — its lowest position since April 2017.
The frequency of app downloads is not a clear-cut way to gauge consumer interest, because existing investors only need one account to trade and unless new users keep signing up, the demand for the mobile app will naturally decrease.
The app is not the only way customers access Coinbase, as they can also use its website. According to traffic statistics provider SimilarWeb, Coinbase’s online platform saw a similar drop in demand. Monthly visits to the exchange’s webpage have fallen from 126 million in January to 28 million in June, representing a nearly 80% drop.
CEO remains undeterred
Coinbase co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong said on Twitter last month that the exchange is not concerned about short-term prices and negative pressure, arguing that downward tendencies help purify the market from players who are there for the wrong reasons.
“After many years of this, I've come to enjoy the down cycles in crypto prices more. It gets rid of the people who are in it for the wrong reasons, and it gives us an opportunity to keep making progress while everyone else gets distracted,” Armstrong posted. “We use the down cycles to build a strong foundation so we can thrive in the next growth cycle.”
Coinbase recently announced a series of new products. Last week, the exchange launched its custody division and revealed that 10 institutional investors had already started using the service. In mid-June, the company also launched its index fund, which is currently available to accredited US residents.
Currently, Coinbase has a valuation of about $8 billion, which is up from $1.6 billion last year. The exchange booked $1 billion in revenue last year, surpassing its $600 million goal.
This article appeared first on Cryptovest