Coinbase In The Public Market: An Overview
Coinbase is a cryptocurrency exchange platform founded and created in 2012 by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam that has become mainstream in the US. As of Wednesday, April 16, Coinbase has gone public in the market and is under the ticker symbol “COIN” on Nasdaq. Its shares opened at a whopping $381 per share and closed at $328.28. Despite rising to $429.54 then falling back down, Coinbase’s debut on the market is historic as it is the US’ very first crypto exchange platform on the market.
The mega-successful company is listed directly, or as a direct public offering, rather than as an initial public offering or IPO. This allows them to sell shares without any intermediaries such as underwriters. Instead, they perform self-underwriting of their securities which severely diminishes the capital cost. Coinbase makes its profit through transaction and exchange fees that arise from trading cryptocurrency on their platform as well as other provided services that include analytics and storage of data.
Its ability to secure its users’ personal information and its wide variety of cryptocurrencies ranging from Etherium, XRP, Tether, and Litecoin makes it unique. Furthermore, its reliability arises also from the fact that the platform has never been hacked. Not to mention, the easy-to-navigate interface that makes it super user-friendly. These are just a few aspects of the platform that have contributed to its major success and the growing number of users.
What does Coinbase’s market debut mean for the future of cryptocurrency? It’s already set the precedent for the US and, in the foreseeable future, will continue to popularize cryptocurrency as a form of exchange. With its introduction to the market, we can foreshadow the longevity of crypto assets and make educated predictions about its strength with definite numbers after it has spent some time in the public.
As of April 16 and 12 pm, Coinbase sits at $335.3, with an upward change of about $12.70. With an initial reference price of $250, this gives us the impression that its future seems bright.
