In what could be termed as the biggest latest development in the cryptocurrency world, the San-Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is going to get listed on the NASDAQ on April 14, 2021. According to the information out in the public domain, the company has chosen the COIN ticker for the listing, and a total of 114,850,769 shares with a valuation of around $100 billion will be listed on the exchange. It’s important to note that instead of taking the traditional initial public offering (IPO) method, Coinbase decided to take the route of a direct listing, which means there won’t be any underwriter involved in this listing process.
Coinbase was founded by Brian Armstrong and Brian Armstrong in 2012. The mission of the cryptocurrency exchange is to make buying and selling of cryptocurrencies more streamlined in nature. Since its formation, as highlighted in recent Coinbase reviews
, the exchange has emerged as the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the US market. In fact, in terms of the overall growth and customer acquisition of late, Coinbase has outpaced most of its formidable rivals, including the likes of Binance, OKEx, and Huobi. Take, for instance, the latest revenue figures released by Coinbase for the first quarter of 2021, in which it has been revealed that the revenue of the company has touched the mammoth figure of US$1.8 billion.With this IPO, Coinbase is expected to strengthen the genuineness of the cryptocurrency among prospective users and investors. It is going to be an important step towards the mainstreaming of digital coins – at least to the US market in the first phase and then subsequently to the rest of the world. The listing of Coinbase will make investors across the globe sit back and take notice of the cryptocurrency as an attractive avenue for growth and investment in the future. However, the performance of the stock will ultimately depend on the business results that the cryptocurrency exchange will produce in the future. This, in turn, will be directly proportional to the acceptance and usage that the cryptocurrencies will command among the prospective users.
By the indication of the recent surge in the cryptocurrency prices – especially the rally we have witnessed in the prices of Bitcoin – is an indication that in the upcoming times, investors can expect healthy growth for the entire cryptocurrency domain. In terms of valuation, Bitcoin is at its all-time high value, partially due to acceptance coming from well-known organizations such as Tesla and MassMutual. This rise in the valuation is also a positive indication for a cryptocurrency exchange like Coinbase, as widening acceptance of cryptocurrencies means more buying, selling, and transactions involving digital currencies.
The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic had also contributed to the popularity of Bitcoin. In order to stimulate the economies, most nations and Central Banks have been printing fiat currencies without any inhibition, a process that will ultimately lead to inflation and loss in the value of their currencies. In such a scenario, Bitcoin is seen as a valuable investment option as putting money in this limited-supply digital coin can help to preserve and enhance its value in the future. The on-chain data also reveals that there is strong support for Bitcoin, and the market continues to have confidence in the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
The choice between investing in Bitcoin or buying Coinbase stock depends upon the risk appetite of the investor. Given the euphoria surrounding the listing of Coinbase on NASDAQ, the initial hype in the prices of Coinbase might not be sustainable in the long run. Purchasing Bitcoin, on the other hand, could prove to be a more considerate and mature decision at this point in time, although one should keep in mind that turbulence in the prices of Bitcoin is a given.