Founded in 2012, Coinbase helps users buy, sell and store cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin and ethereum. The digital broker, which competes with Coinmama, CEX.IO and Gemini, announced plans to go public in December.
The company said it plans to list its shares on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the symbol “COIN”. More than 43 million investors in more than 100 countries use Coinbase, accounting for $ 455 billion in trades and $ 90 billion in assets on the platform, according to the company’s website.
After years of skepticism, leading cryptocurrency bitcoin (ARSC) is finally gaining mainstream credibility. Interest in bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies skyrocketed during the coronavirus pandemic, and some investors have switched to digital currencies as the US dollar weakens.
The total number of bitcoins traded collectively was more than $ 1 trillion last week, as the price per currency soared to nearly $ 60,000. Bitcoin has fallen slightly since then and is currently trading around $ 51,000.
Tesla (TSLA), MasterCard (BAD), Bank of New York Mellon and several other major companies have made significant investments in bitcoin in recent months, helping to give the currency legitimacy. Robinhood added six million new cryptocurrency customers so far in 2021, according to the company. The average was just 200,000 a month in 2020.
Still, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies remain extremely volatile and subject to huge spikes and falls.
For example, Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday again tweeted a photo of the crypto mascot dogecoin, which originally started out as an internet parody based on a viral dog meme. The coin shot up 10% in 30 minutes.