BitGo’s net income nearly doubled in the third quarter, but a $71.5 million unrealized gain on digital assets did much of the work as revenue fell by half and trading margins narrowed.
- Revenue fell 50.9% year over year to $2.85 billion.
- Net income reached $44.1 million, while adjusted EBITDA was negative $4.3 million.
- Client numbers grew, but asset figures depend heavily on how cryptocurrency prices are accounted for.
- BTGO rose before the November 9 release, then fell in after-hours trading.
BitGo Holdings (NYSE: BTGO) reported results for the three months ended September 30, 2026. The company added clients and expanded services, but remains exposed to volatile trading revenue and thin margins. The jump in net income needs context: it was driven mainly by an increase in the recorded value of assets, not by selling them.
Net income rose, but adjusted EBITDA was negative
BitGo reported net income of $44.1 million, up 94.4% year over year, and diluted earnings of $0.36 per share, compared with $0.15 a year earlier. The company said the improvement was driven mainly by a $71.5 million unrealized gain on digital assets it held.
An unrealized gain means an asset’s recorded value has increased. BitGo did not have to sell the asset or receive cash for the gain to appear in its results. The gain could also shrink if prices fall. It can lift reported net income without generating recurring revenue from custody, trading, or other services.
BitGo also reported an adjusted EBITDA loss of $4.3 million, compared with positive adjusted EBITDA of $13.5 million in the same quarter a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA is a company-defined measure, and the available figures do not include a detailed reconciliation. It provides useful context, but does not fully measure cash generation or operating performance.
Trading revenue fell as margins tightened
Total revenue was $2.8519 billion, down 50.9% from $5.81 billion a year earlier and 34.1% from the second quarter’s $4.33 billion. Digital-asset sales brought in $2.72 billion in the third quarter, but fell 52% year over year as trading activity weakened.
That $2.72 billion in sales is not the amount BitGo kept. After $2.72 billion in associated costs, digital-asset sales contributed $4.2 million, a margin of 15 basis points, or 0.15%. The margin was 17 basis points in the second quarter and 20 basis points a year earlier. BitGo pointed to weaker trading activity and a larger share of lower-margin stablecoin transactions as reasons for the decline.
CEO Mike Belshe said approximately two-thirds of clients who traded with BitGo in the second quarter traded less in the third. That helps explain the company’s lower sales, but it does not measure trading activity across the wider crypto market.
Companywide direct costs totaled $2.81 billion, leaving $37.3 million in revenue after those costs, down 32.1% year over year. The available figures do not break down all direct costs. That makes the margin comparison more useful than treating the headline revenue decline alone as a measure of BitGo’s operating performance.
BitGo also showed some cost control. Operating expenses excluding direct costs fell 5.5% sequentially to $56.6 million. The company said the drop followed cost-reduction measures introduced in the second quarter. Lower expenses can cushion weaker activity, but they cannot reverse falling sales or thin margins on their own.
Client growth and asset figures need context
BitGo reported 6, 640 clients, up 33.1% from a year earlier, and approximately 1.3 million platform users, up 7.3%. The company said part of the sequential increase in its client count came from a change in counting methodology. The available figures do not provide enough detail to calculate a comparable client count, so the full increase should not be treated as purely organic growth. Platform users and institutional clients are different measures, too.
Asset figures are less straightforward. BitGo reported $59.9 billion in platform assets and 31.9% year-over-year growth on a normalized basis, adjusting earlier periods using current-quarter median cryptocurrency prices. It also cited $83 billion using September 30 prices. The available descriptions do not clearly reconcile these figures or explain precisely which labels apply to each, so they should not be treated as interchangeable quarter-end totals.
Price adjustments matter because the dollar value of assets under custody can fall when crypto prices fall, even if customers add assets. Normalized growth tries to separate changes in assets from price movements, but BitGo’s figures do not spell out the full calculation. The company also reported 41.1% normalized growth in staked assets. Its $10.5 billion figure was described as normalized assets staked.
Staking means committing certain crypto assets to help support a blockchain network. BitGo reported $68.2 million in staking revenue, up 5.4% from the previous quarter. That sequential increase does not remove the effects of changing token prices and protocol rewards, which can shift staking revenue independently of customer growth.
Stablecoin services and the NYDIG acquisition
Stablecoin-as-a-Service revenue reached $37.4 million, up 52.5% year over year but down 3.8% sequentially. Stablecoin sponsor fees were $34.5 million. BitGo reported a stablecoin take rate of 7.7%, down from 8% in the second quarter. The company attributed the sequential decline to higher reserve interest rates and lower average reserve balances.
A take rate generally measures revenue or fees against some underlying activity. BitGo’s available figures do not explain the precise numerator and denominator behind this rate, so it cannot be meaningfully compared with other services or interpreted on its own without knowing the methodology.
BitGo completed its acquisition of NYDIG’s institutional trading business on August 27. The acquired capabilities included derivatives, structured products, financing, and trading. The company described the expansion as part of its broader institutional offering. The available results do not estimate the acquisition’s expected revenue contribution or integration costs.
BTGO rose before the release, then slipped
BitGo shares closed the regular session on November 9 at $5.10, up $0.24, or 4.94%, according to the reported market data. The gain came before the earnings announcement, so it was not a reaction to the results. Shares later fell to $5.04 in after-hours trading. The reported decline was 1.14%, although the rounded prices imply a move of roughly 1.2%. The reason for the after-hours decline was not established.
BitGo repurchased $24.7 million of common stock during the quarter under a $50 million authorization, leaving approximately $25.3 million unused. That remaining amount is permission to repurchase shares, not necessarily cash set aside for future buybacks. Repurchases can reduce the number of shares outstanding, but they do not fix weak margins or guarantee that a stock is undervalued.
Key questions about BitGo’s Q3 results
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Why did BitGo’s revenue fall?
BitGo cited weaker digital-asset trading and a larger share of lower-margin stablecoin transactions. Digital-asset sales made up most of revenue, but contributed only $4.2 million after associated costs.
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Why did net income rise despite lower revenue?
A $71.5 million unrealized gain on digital assets was the main driver. It increased reported income but did not necessarily generate cash or recurring operating revenue.
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Do BitGo’s asset figures show growth?
BitGo reported normalized growth in platform and staked assets, but its platform-asset figures use different pricing descriptions that the available information does not fully reconcile. The normalized growth rates should not be confused with changes in reported dollar values.
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Did the earnings release cause BTGO to rise?
No. Shares rose during regular trading before the release and fell after hours. The cause of the later move was not established.
BitGo’s customer growth and new institutional capabilities could help broaden its business. For now, the quarter’s central tension is clear: net income rose even as adjusted EBITDA turned negative, revenue fell sharply, and margins on digital-asset sales stayed thin.
Further reading
- FASB guidance on accounting for and disclosing crypto assets (ASU 2023-08)
- BitGo’s third-quarter 2026 financial results
