TL;DR Breakdown
- Coinbase has filed with the SEC to go public through a direct listing.
- Once approved, the exchange starts trading on the NASDAQ under the ticker “COIN.”
The leading United States cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to go public through a direct listing. This latest move brings the exchange closer to going public on the New York-based stock exchange, NASDAQ, which also represents a milestone for the cryptocurrency industry at large. As per the document, Coinbase shares will start trading on NASDAQ as soon as the registration statement is approved by the SEC.
Coinbase is public via a direct listing
The exchange first announced its intention of going public in December 2020, which was welcomed by many crypto industry players. Following the Form S-1 filed with the US regulator on Thursday, the exchange will go public through a direct listing and not via traditional IPO. The latter (traditional IPO) involves the creation and underwriting of new shares before being sold to the public. However, through a direct listing, Coinbase needs not hire an underwriter or create new shares.
All the shares they have will be sold straight into the market for public trading under a direct listing. The share will be traded on the NASDAQ exchange with the ticker “COIN,” and interestingly, the anonymous creator of the largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC), Satoshi Nakamoto, was named as a designated recipient of the document.
Coinbase pushing up mainstream growth
Since its launch in 2012, the exchange has seen a massive volume of trades and users. Per the document filed with the US regulator, there are about 43 million verified users on the exchange and 2.8 million monthly active users. The lifetime trading volume on the exchange is $456 billion, with over $90 billion assets on the platform. Last year, the exchange noted that it generated $322 million profit from transaction fees.
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