The crypto winter is not only affecting the big players, such as Binance or Coinbase. The poor market sentiment has also affected the business figures of the Austrian crypto exchange Bitpanda. The main crypto exchange from the German-speaking region saw its 2022 revenue drop from €477 million to €90 million, with the loss really exploding to €116 million, PayRate42 reports. Valuation slumped from €3.3 billion to €1.3 billion.
Bitpanda Losses Exceed Sales
Currently, however, there is a hangover mood. Bitpanda has grown strongly over the last few years while at the same time regularly posting a profit at the end of the year. In the hype year of 2021, for example, revenue rose by a staggering 764 percent to €477.9 million, yet the startup was still left with a loss of €37.5 million.
One year later, the crypto winter environment is now brutally reflected in the business figures. Bitpanda‘s net sales fell by 80% to €90 million. An unscheduled depreciation of € 33 million dragged the result down further. Bottom line, Bitpanda presents a loss of around €116 million – more than the company’s net revenue. On average, the Austrian fintech had 600 full-time positions last year, down from 400 in 2021, and around 270 employees were laid off in 2023.
Bitpanda CEO Eric Demuth sees no reason for concern in the development and sees the catastrophic figures in line with the general market development. There should still be enough money to avoid an insolvency scenario.
The Imploded Valuation
As countermeasures, the company cut back on marketing and imposed a hiring freeze. The financial statements also contain juicy details on the thorny issue of the company’s valuation. Bitpanda was once valued at around €3.3 billion by well-known backers such as Peter Thiel‘s Valar Ventures and Hedosophia.
In the 2022 financial statements, the valuation was reduced to €1.3 billion and devalued by €2 billion from previously €3.3 billion. The auditors reduced the goodwill they used to calculate provisions. The company says: “This is merely the balance sheet valuation in accordance with Austrian accounting standards of the provisions for the employee program, which was necessary, among other things, in the course of the reorganization.” The reorganization is a change in the company structure. Nevertheless, the revaluation should not be a good sign.
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