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COINBASE LISTING: a crypto moment WESLEY DIPHOKO
JUST over a decade ago, digital assets were a theoretical concept, announced to the world through an anonymous white paper. Today, a digital asset exchange is trading on the Nasdaq exchange with a market cap of $62 billion as of April 14 2021, excluding options and restricted stock units. Coinbase’s direct listing represents a watershed moment for the digital assets industry. Coinbase is the first major cryptocurrency startup to go public on a US stock market. It did so at a valuation that rivaled that of Airbnb and Facebook when
they went public. It is the largest listing (IPO, SPAC, or otherwise) of any digital asset company in history, at valuations that reflect a direct competition with traditional exchanges. A valuation at this level indicates the full scale of global digital asset adoption by institutions and individuals. Full-year 2020 revenues for Coinbase were $1.28 billion and net income was $322.3 million. In its preliminary Q1 2021 results, Coinbase projected 2021 revenues of $1.8bn and net income within $730 to $800m. These estimates represent a massive spike in growth of top- and bottom-line
revenues that exceed their full-year returns for the prior full-year. The listing of Coinbase is silencing the doubters who are still sceptical about the industry. Now investors who may be wary of directly buying risky digital currencies have the ability to own stock in a Securities and Exchange Commission-approved business that facilitates the transactions. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said: “I wanted there to be just a true market on day one that set the price, not something that was set behind closed doors.” The direct listing, which provides greater accessibility to retail investors,
