Quick Insights

  • BitGo reported $3.8 billion in Q1 2026 revenue, up 112.6% year on year, in its first earnings since the January 2026 IPO on the New York Stock Exchange.
  • Net loss widened to $60.7 million from $25.7 million a year earlier, driven by mark-to-market Bitcoin treasury markdowns and elevated IPO-related stock-based compensation.
  • The company launched its derivatives platform during the quarter, generating roughly $3 billion in notional trading volume, and rolled out BitGo Mint, an institutional stablecoin minting service.
  • Revenue was up 113% year on year but down 38.7% from Q4 2025, reflecting the shift in client activity from spot trading, which records revenue gross, to derivatives, which records on a net basis.

Crypto custody and infrastructure firm BitGo reported its first quarterly earnings as a public company on Wednesday, showing revenue more than doubling year on year alongside an equally aggressive widening of net losses. The mixed result, $3.8 billion in revenue against a $60.7 million net loss, reflects both the scale of BitGo's institutional business and the cost discipline questions that come with operating as a listed company through a soft Bitcoin quarter.

$3.8 Billion Top Line, $60.7 Million Loss

The headline revenue figure of $3.8 billion was up 112.6% from the same period a year earlier, driven primarily by digital asset sales activity which generated $3.7 billion on its own. Stablecoin-as-a-Service revenue grew 43.6% sequentially to $38.2 million, supported by the company's BitGo Mint product launched in April, while staking revenue contributed $49.4 million and subscription and services revenue added $25.6 million.

The bottom line was less flattering. GAAP net loss came in at $60.7 million, more than double the $25.7 million loss from Q1 2025 and meaningfully worse than the $50 million loss in Q4 2025. The widening reflects two factors that are largely non-recurring or non-cash: mark-to-market markdowns on BitGo's Bitcoin treasury during a quarter in which BTC fell 23.8%, and IPO-related stock-based compensation that rose from $0.8 million in Q4 to $11.2 million in Q1. The company also incurred roughly $3 million in one-time legal and professional fees tied to the IPO process.

"Total revenue in Q1 was approximately $3.8 billion, up 112.6% year-over-year but down 38.7% sequentially. Net loss was primarily driven by non-cash mark-to-market impacts related to the Company's Bitcoin treasury, as well as elevated IPO-related stock-based compensation expense."

Ed Reginelli, CFO, BitGo

The sequential decline in revenue, down 38.7% from Q4, deserves more attention than it has received. CEO Mike Belshe explained the drop as a reporting mix shift: spot trading revenue is recognised on a gross basis, while derivatives revenue is recognised on a net basis. As client activity rotated into the newly launched derivatives platform, headline revenue fell even though underlying client engagement remained strong.

Derivatives and BitGo Mint Are the Growth Story

The two product launches BitGo made during the quarter are doing more interesting work than the financial results suggest. The derivatives platform generated approximately $3 billion in notional trading volume in its first three months, putting BitGo on a credible competitive footing in a category dominated by Deribit, Binance and CME. BitGo Mint, the stablecoin minting and redemption service for institutional clients, lifted Stablecoin-as-a-Service revenue with a higher take rate of 7.4%, suggesting margin expansion potential as that product scales.

The broader strategic position is what makes the loss tolerable. BitGo received final approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to operate as a national trust bank on the day of its NYSE listing in January, making it the first publicly traded, federally chartered digital asset infrastructure company in the US. That regulatory status is the structural differentiator the company is selling to institutional clients who need both crypto-native infrastructure and traditional banking compliance.

Mizuho analysts recently described BitGo as a "military-grade custodian" in a research note, citing its security record and institutional focus as the key advantages over competitors. The company has been positioning itself as the crypto custody analogue to BNY Mellon for traditional securities, with its January OCC charter cementing that pitch in regulatory terms.

BTGO shares closed up 0.17% at $11.91 on Wednesday before falling 2.1% in after-hours trading. The stock has spent most of its post-IPO trading life below the $18 IPO price, reflecting both broader weakness in crypto-related equities through the quarter and the market's caution about a high-revenue, loss-making business operating in a cyclical industry. The next earnings report in August will signal whether the Q1 cost structure was a one-time IPO drag or a structural feature of operating BitGo as a public company.

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