The American cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has obtained approval from regulators to list its shares on the Nasdaq opening a path for a landmark victory for crypto advocates.
The decision from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is another boost to the validity of digital currencies, which are swiftly gaining acceptance from the mainstream financial services industry.
Earlier this week, the American multinational financial services corporation Visa stated that it would enable the use of the cryptocurrency USD Coin to settle transactions on its payment network, while PayPal started allowing US consumers to use their cryptocurrency holdings to pay its millions of global online merchants.
A successful listing for Coinbase would mark notable support for the digital asset sector that has struggled to gain the trust of mainstream investors, regulators and the general public.
In its recent blog post, Coinbase stated that its shares were declared effective by the SEC. The company, which plans to go public through a direct listing, expects its shares to start trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker ‘COIN’ in the coming week.
In a direct listing, no shares are sold in advance, as is the case with an initial public offering (IPO). The company’s share price is determined by orders coming into the stock exchange. Crypto supporters argue it is a better way to price new stock rather than an IPO.
In a regulatory filing last month, Coinbase stated that its stock in the private market traded at a weighted average price of $343.58 in the first quarter of 2021 through March 15, a nearly 13-fold hike in its valuation to around $68 billion in the time period of a few months.
The increase in Coinbase’s private market valuation shows how the noted value of the company has rallied hand-in-hand with the jump in the price of cryptocurrency bitcoin.
