Mike, it's good to see you. So you guys had that huge increase in revenue. You however posted a net loss, and that has to do at least partially, if not entirely, with what happened with crypto prices. So walk me through that loss and how investors should be thinking about it.
Well, actually, um, adjusted EBITDA was was up, uh, was positive. Uh, what we do we do maintain a little bit of Bitcoin on the balance sheets and you know, Bitcoin prices are down. Uh, look, we're long-term bullish on what's going to happen with with digital assets, in particular Bitcoin. Um, so, you know, yeah, that does show up that way, but uh that's not I think the real indicative part. And and also just remember, you know, Bitco's not a digital asset Treasury company. Uh we're an operating company. We do have Bitcoin on the balance sheet. We have had it since 2014, it's been a fantastic investment for us. We're going to continue to maintain that. Um but obviously when the prices there go, go one way, you'll see that on the on the the net loss, but it doesn't show up on the adjusted EBITDA.
And so, you guys are um, you know, seeing a lot of demand in various areas even with what's been going on with the crypto markets. Derivatives uh trading in particular, which you launched uh at the beginning of the year. You're seeing a lot of volume on that. Um, so talk me through that business and and um how that accrues to revenue and then that EBITDA number as well.
Sure. Yeah, we just launched derivatives this year. We didn't have it last year. You can see the gross uh gross revenues and trading volumes have been significantly up. So we're really happy about that. proud of the team in terms of what they've accomplished there. This year launching derivatives gives a much stronger trading platform. Um having the number of assets and clients that we have on the platform. Uh many of them institutional, they like being able to come to us, get the full service. We give them the trading capability, we give them the custody capability, we give them the staking capability. Uh of course some some borrow on lend as well in there. So all of this has contributed to kind of growing the business. Ultimately, this grows towards a prime brokerage element, um, which we're excited about.
Overall, we're we're pretty pleased. Um and when you are seeing those derivatives clients, I think you talked on the call a little bit about some of your spot traders moving over into derivatives. Are you seeing sort of a switching phenomenon? And does that or is it sort of an additional phenomenon where they're adding those kinds of services?
Well, sure. If you're familiar with with how trading works. I mean, in general, derivatives, you know, notional trading volumes are going to be significantly larger, uh than spot trading volumes. So we expect to see some of the shift. So we we didn't offer the product previously, that meant people that wanted to access derivatives had to take take their assets off platform and go do it somewhere else. Now they can do it with Bitco. So some of the traders that previously were trading spot, now moved to derivatives. And so we saw over three billion, you know, US notional value of trading volume uh on derivatives, just since January. Um and we think that number will continue to grow. Uh we'll see exactly what the balance is between the the spot and derivatives for our terms of clients, but overall, we think this helps bring more clients on the platform because we've got a much more robust trading offering.
Mike, I do want to circle back around to um cryptocurrency prices because to your point, you don't have a lot of of Bitcoin on your balance sheet, but it affects, you know, how much price price action affects how much people want to trade. Um so how how leveraged are you to crypto prices? I mean, we've seen your stock pull back not just today, but since the IPO along with uh crypto prices. So, you know, how should investors and potential investors think about the relationship between the company and these prices?
Yeah, you know, one of the most challenging parts is like being on this call, right? We just did our earnings. We'd like to have like the company performance stand alone from how the market is performing. And of course, the market's going down, you know, just at the point where you're trying to show what your earnings is doing and it it conflates these two numbers. So it makes a little bit tricky. Look, uh crypto is a high volatility asset, Bitcoin's high volatility. Um you've got to have a thesis about it for the long term. So we've been doing this for 13 years now. We're one of the early generation companies that got into the space. We've been through lots of highs and lows. Um I it could well be that we're going to see more pain on the digital asset side. I mean, I got to feel for investors right now. Um not just related to digital assets, but across all sectors, in particular, you know, technology, um definitely seeing a lot of difficulties given all the uncertainty that's going on around around the world.
Probably at the point where you just feel the most desperate, the most like, oh my gosh, this is going to go to zero, it's never going to come back is when, you know, actually you'll be at the bottom and then things start start to recover a little bit. Um so we'll see how that goes. Uh these things come and go with market cycles. There's also going to be another blow-off top that's going to be amazing, and then everybody's going to forget about this particular piece of the pie um and and and think about the the the future one. So, look, you have to be in it for the long term. Uh Bitco, uh we're we're we're fairly dependent upon, you know, how the the prices of digital assets go up and down. So that's that's a reality that we face. We've got stable coin offerings which now start to get away from that trade volume, start to get away from it because they go up even when the markets are going down. But in general, yeah, we have a lot of tie to to digital asset prices, but we have a very long-term view.
We're in bullish. Look, I think all of this uncertainty, you know, in in the Middle East as well as, you know, the continued uh deflation of the of the dollar inflation of the dollar, um is going to continue to prove the thesis of Bitcoin, digital assets. So it's going to come around. um but yeah, sometimes it's hard on days like today.
Yes. Um and there's been, there's been some challenging days, but I, I, I feel you Mike, and I appreciate you coming on and talking to us on a day when the market is doing what it's doing and and your stock, um is sort of participating in that. Um I know that you have been watching the Clarity Act really closely as has everyone in the industry. Um I I'm curious if you can walk me through specifically what you see it potentially doing for Biko.
Well, we've seen a huge wave of new participants in the space, you know, pretty much every traditional financial player uh has got something and you're reading about news almost on a weekly basis. Morgan Stanley is coming in, City Group is coming in. I mean, just down the line, of course we got the the folks that were in previously, BlackRock and Fidelity, um and all of those. So every single traditional firm is now seeing a path forward. Clarity makes it so that not only do we have the regulatory green light and acceptance that this is a real asset class, but also get that all the way through a legislated path. I know there's a lot of debates about, you know, uh what's going on with the interest on stable coins. I think that these are going to turn out to be um kind of a small road bump in the long history of how how this unfolds. Um so clarity helps everybody feel like great, we've got the legislative path.
Then remember, there's like a year and a half or two years of work that has to still be done where the CFTC, you know, helps kind of formulate the actual regulation that we have for for crypto and digital assets.
Um and and speaking of legislation or regulation, I guess, um, you guys had an interesting deal, um, earlier, I think earlier this week that you launched with Susquehanna Crypto where um entities or individuals that have assets on your platform can use them in prediction markets, right? Um do you have any concern or do you foresee prediction markets being regulated in a different way going forward? I know Congress, there are some members of Congress who are talking about that.
Yeah, for for sure they are. Um, there's a lot of talk about this. Uh, I think prediction markets are a very valuable tool and a reasonable investment for all kinds of things. But there's also a line where people start to say like, wait a minute, is this overlapping with with gambling. What we're doing, we're not a we're not a prediction market ourselves. We're just making a conduit where people can access them through Saquahana. So it's an innovative cycle. It's a it's a way that you can actually derisk. You can now have your assets stay, you know, at Biko at a, you know, National Bank where Biko Bank and Trust, you know, regulated by the OCC, um and yet have access to those markets. So, uh we think that this is a good safety step for what happens with prediction markets and then uh you know, the regulators will figure out what the right mix is for what's allowed on the prediction markets themselves. Overall, I'm optimistic about it though.
Mike, it's good to see you. Thanks a lot for joining us.
Thank you for having me.