United States-based cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase Global Inc has officially filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in a bid to go public. The filing confirms months of speculations about the company’s proposed Initial Public Offering (IPO) plans.
Per the filing, Coinbase reported that it has a record number of 43 million verified users in 2020 with over 2.8 million conducting transactions on a monthly basis. Additionally, the company noted that it works with over 115,000 ecosystem partners and 7,000 institutions in more than 100 countries globally.
Coinbase is one of the industry leaders and pioneers in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. As of December 31, the company said it had USD 90bn worth of assets on the platform and registered USD 456bn lifetime trading volume.
The exchange also revealed its financials, with over $456 billion lifetime trading volume and as much as $90 billion worth of assets hosted on the platform. In his filing remarks, Brian Armstrong, the Founder, and CEO of Coinbase noted;
“You can expect volatility in our financials, given the price cycles of the cryptocurrency industry. This doesn’t faze us, because we’ve always taken a long-term perspective on crypto adoption. We may earn a profit when revenues are high, and we may lose money when revenues are low, but our goal is to roughly operate the company at break-even, smoothed out over time, for the time being. We are looking for long-term investors who believe in your mission and will hold through price cycles.”
The CEO noted that the company is committed to creating new products and services with efficient capital allocation. Coinbase’s share sale is projected at $1 billion and it will list on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “COIN.”
Coinbase Exchange Public Debut: A New Frontier in Crypto Adoption
The move by Coinbase to go public is the first of its kind in a regulatory strict nation. This move has received clear applause from the crypto community since it was revealed last year as many analyst believes it will offer a path for more daring moves as this.
As a publicly listed company in a red hot U.S market, Coinbase will be exposed to American investors who will now have indirect exposure to cryptocurrencies. This has been tagged as an innovative way to compel US authorities to embrace crypto innovations and companies associated with the emerging technology. With Coinbase taking the lead, other exchanges or related cryptocurrency firms are expected to follow along.
