Cryptocurrency giant Coinbase heads to Wall Street – By Dan Primack, Kia Kokalitcheva (Axios) / April 14 2021
Coinbase, the country’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is expected to go public today at what could be a valuation north of $100 billion.
Why it matters: This gives crypto a Wall Street seal of legitimacy, after an early existence marred by ties to illicit goods.
Details: Coinbase is going public via a direct listing, rather than through an initial public offering (IPO) or special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). This means that early investors and employees will sell shares directly, with Coinbase itself not receiving any proceeds.
- “It’s exactly in the spirit and ethos of crypto,” Coinbase president and COO Emile Choi tells the Axios Re:Cap podcast, in an episode posting later this morning. “Let the market determine what the price should be without intermediaries.”
