credit: Shutterstock
credit: Shutterstock

Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in North America, has taken the significant step of filing to go public through a direct listing. 

According to reports, the listing may well see the value of the exchange cited tas being monumental, with it being the largest firm to go public since social media giant Facebook, back in 2012. 

The listing follows a fruitful period for Coinbase, which has benefitted from strong trading and market speculation on the price of bitcoin. The cryptocurrency exchange has recorded month-on-month growth to its current record-high pricing of +$47,000.    

In addition, the firm’s overall revenue increased exponentially over the past 12-months, with the trading platform reporting $1.3bn in corporate revenue for 2020, doubling its revenue volume from $534m in 2019, according to the Financial Times.

The group has however underlined that its trading volume is dictated by the turbulent cryptocurrency market. Nonetheless, the market has experienced significant growth this year with the company netting a profit in excess of $300m.

Furthermore, the group detailed the consistent growth of its user base, spiking this year to 43 million verified customers, with Coinbase regarded as one of the trading platform’s that has opened crypto trading to day-to-day consumers.  

Lauding the growth of cryptocurrency into the mainstream, CEO Brian Armstrong stated in a public letter: “People are using cryptocurrency to earn, spend, save, stake, borrow, lend, vote, and perform many other types of economic activity.” A recent report from Crypto.com estimated more than 100 million people are now using cryptocurrencies.

“Coinbase is building the infrastructure to power the cryptoeconomy, helping bring the benefits of this new technology to the world,” Armstrong continued.

 Wall Street reports indicate that Coinbase will pursue an initial private listing on the Nasdaq Exchange – providing its existing investors the first right to sell their existing share to the market, before the company executes its public offering.   

Following its considerable price rise, bitcoin fell slightly, with many citing comments from Elon Musk as the main reason.  

It prompted Philippe Bekhazi, CEO and Co-founder of Stablehouse to underline that the stability of the crypto market is deeper than the influence of one person.

He stated: “The Bitcoin and Ethereum drop in the last 24 hours was a matter of time, not a matter of if. The upside move was very sustained with very little pullbacks. This is a healthy retracement that we believe is not the start of a crypto winter, far from it. However, we must remember that all crypto assets are not made equal and that some cryptocurrencies will lose luster for the benefit of others. Ethereum for example is battling chronically high fees and congested networks that is significantly putting its utility at risk.

“Although Elon’s comments are clearly having an effect on crypto, this is only short term. We do not believe one person can have a long term effect on Bitcoin. It has been proven many times in the past that that is indeed the case. This may be somewhat different for other crypto-assets.

“The decrease could be a shock for some novice crypto investors but we do not advise on short term moves. We believe in the long term potential of some of these crypto-currencies and with an outlook of say 10 years, investors should do well. Buy major retracements with money you can afford to lose.”