Major US-based cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase is moving to a conventional method and begin planning to go public by shares on a stock market.
Listing which could happen as early as this year could make Coinbase Inc one of the first major U.S. cryptocurrency exchanges to go public. Subject to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC), the firms listing could be a big victory to a group of people who demands cryptocurrency to be treated as a normal way of transaction.
Preparing for a listing that could be late this year or early next, Coinbase is already speaking to various financial institutions and law firms to discuss the matter. The firm is yet to submit any form of interest with SEC about a possible listing.
Both Coinbase and SEC representations have declined to add any information into the revelation.
Even though the SEC considers some cryptocurrencies as securities and favors regulation on them, the body is yet to provide specific guidelines for virtual coin operations. Cryptocurrencies have struggled to earn trust within the mainstream investor community and the general public who remain suspicious of their volatile nature and potential for illegal money transactions.
Coinbase was priced at more than $8 billion in its latest private fundraising round in 2018.
It is yet unclear if the crypto trader will choose an IPO to supplement its public trading. Even though most public listings are done to raise additional capital, existing shares of a firm could simply be made available for trading with no additional funding.
Founded in 2012, Coinbase is one of the most renowned cryptocurrency trading platforms around the world with more than 35 million users who trade virtual currencies such as bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP.
