Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the United States, filed an application with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to become a publicly traded company through a direct listing (not an initial public offering). Here’s what you need to know.
Coinbase is a San Francisco-based crypto exchange that opened its doors in 2012. Founded by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ersham, the platform now has more than 43 million users worldwide and has moved over $ 456 billion to date. – according to the last request to the SEC.
On January 28, the exchange formally announced its plans to go public through a direct listing on Nasdaq, “in accordance with a proposed direct listing of its Class A common shares.” This confirmed rumors of a Reuters report released in July last year, stating that the company was interested in listing on the stock exchange.
Initially, Coinbase was believed to raise capital through an initial public offering (IPO); a process that involves creating new stocks and helping underwriters – usually banks – to help promote and market them to potential investors. Instead, Coinbase decided to seek a direct listing, also known as a public offering (DPO), which essentially means cutting out middlemen and selling only existing shares. No new shares will be created.
There are three distinct advantages of this route over an IPO:
“Coinbase Global, Inc. announced today that it has confidentially filed a registration statement form on Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the“ SEC ”). Form S-1 is expected to take effect after the SEC has completed its review process, subject to the market and other conditions. “
On February 25, Coinbase’s Form S-1 was officially published by the SEC. Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Securities were among the banks chosen by Coinbase to assist it in the listing process.
Coinbase’s Class A shares will be launched on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the code COIN.
At the moment, no official listing date has been provided. We will update this article as soon as it is announced.
Since COIN shares will be listed on the Nasdaq exchange, this means that anyone who has an account with a broker that trades in US shares will be able to buy COIN shares. Likewise, investors will also be able to purchase COIN shares in any mobile trading application that lists shares in the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
It is not yet known how many COIN shares will be available or what the price of each share will be.