Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) did a funny thing in its fourth-quarter letter to shareholders. As trading volumes implode and transaction revenue falls off a cliff, the company went to great pains to tout its other sources of revenue. The problem is that these other lines of business aren't exactly booming, either.

Coinbase generated $282.8 million in revenue from subscriptions and services in Q4, up 32.5% year over year. Unfortunately, everything except interest income was down dramatically. Blockchain rewards plunged 39%; custodial fee revenue was down 77%; and other subscription and services revenue dropped 48%. A huge surge in interest income, fueled by higher interest rates, was the sole reason for the overall growth.

There's a great book called How to Lie with Statistics that every investor should read. It was written in 1954, but its lessons are timeless. The statistical shenanigans the book warns of aren't hard to find in the quarterly reports of public companies, particularly those trying desperately to spin terrible results.

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Source Fool.com