One of the most expected public listings of 2021 will finally happen. The leading cryptocurrency exchange in the US, Coinbase, announced that it would go public via a direct listing. This method has been used by companies such as Spotify, Palantir, and Roblox. The direct listing will allow the current stockholders of Coinbase to convert their shares to make them available for trading.
Coinbase is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S. that runs without an official physical headquarter. It was founded in 2012 by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam. It operates in more than 100 countries, listing about 50 cryptos for trading. The company started gaining recognition for being a place where crypto enthusiasts could buy and sell digital coins. It offers an exchange platform and a digital wallet to store it in.
Based on the shares sold in private markets, some analysts value Coinbase in the range of $70 billion to $90 billion, while others go as high as $100 billion. If the last value is correct, Coinbase would be the 13th most valuable financial services company in the US, only $12 billion behind Goldman Sachs.
Trade the Coinbase direct listing with CAPEX.com through one of the most popular ways - CFDs!
Ahead of its public debut, Coinbase released its preliminary for the first quarter of 2021. Revenue came in at $1.8 billion, ninefold higher than the $190.6 million posted during the same time last year. Moreover, the number of users increased more than 30% in the past three months, bringing the total to 56 million. Monthly transactions also had an upward trajectory, reaching 6.1 million, 118% higher than the one reported at the end of 2020.
Coinbase's shares will begin trading on NASDAQ on April 14 under the ticker COIN. According to its SEC filing, Coinbase has listed 114,850,769 shares without mentioning the proposed price. Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Allen & Co., and Citigroup are acting as financial advisors.
Find out more by accessing our dedicated IPO page on CAPEX.com!
Sources: sec.gov, thefool.com, fortune.com