Coinbase Global Inc., the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S, will be listed on Nasdaq on April 14 after receiving official approval from the SEC.
What Happened: The company will offer 114.9 million shares as part of the direct listing and will be the first crypto exchange to go public in the United States.
The anticipated event was originally scheduled to take place in March, but the company announced last month it would be postponing the listing to April without disclosing any reasons for the delay.
On Thursday, Coinbase announced that the proposed direct listing of its Class A Common Stock was declared effective by the SEC on April 1, and shares would begin trading under the Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “COIN” on April 14.
Why It Matters: Coinbase has 43 million users in over 100 countries across the globe. In a private market auction earlier this year, shares reportedly traded between $350 and $375, implying a pre-IPO valuation of between $90 and $100 billion.
The company later updated a filing with the SEC, disclosing an average share price of $343.58 at the private market auction, which the Nasdaq will likely use as a reference price ahead of the company’s direct listing.
The cryptocurrency exchange, which reported $1.3 billion in revenue and $322 million in profit in 2020 alone, largely depends on the fees from active cryptocurrency traders on its platform.
On that front, the timing couldn’t be better for Coinbase as retail demand for crypto doesn’t appear to be waning.
Crypto markets looked poised for another leg up, as the market-leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin was back above $60,000 at the time of writing, and most altcoins trading higher as well.
Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, geared towards a new all-time high as it traded above $2000 at press time.
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