Coinbase Global posted its first quarterly profit since 2021 on Thursday amid a surge in trading volume driven by renewed interest in cryptocurrencies, sending its shares up nearly 13% after the bell.

Investor enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies has been revived in recent months following the long-awaited approval by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the first dot-com bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Although the ETFs were only approved in January, expectations of a favorable SEC decision led to a 57 percent increase in the bitcoin price over the last three months of 2023.

This led to a 64 percent increase in Coinbase’s cryptocurrency exchange transaction revenue to $529.3 million in the fourth quarter.

“This quarter’s results were exceptional as they far exceeded both our expectations and consensus forecasts,” said Michael Elliott, equity analyst at CFRA Research.

The cryptocurrency exchange now expects a strong first quarter for its subscription and services division, which does more than just trading.

It forecast revenue from that division of $410 million to $480 million, above LSEG’s forecast of $356.22 million.

The division’s revenue jumped nearly 33% to $375.4 million in the fourth quarter, with the biggest increase coming from stable coin revenue, an interest Coinbase receives from its partnership with fintech company Circle.

Circle issues stable USD Coin (USDC) coins, which it co-manages with Coinbase. Interest from the reserves backing USDC is a major source of revenue for Coinbase, which has been able to generate higher income thanks to the U.S. Federal Reserve raising interest rates.

Overall, the company posted a profit of $273.4 million, or $1.04 per share, for the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with a loss of $557 million, or $2.46 per share, a year earlier. Analysts had expected a loss of 1 cent per share, according to LSEG.

Elliott said he has long-term concerns that “spot ETFs may cause more investors to look outside the Coinbase platform for cryptocurrencies.”

But the company brushed off those concerns.