/https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/603be458314c1d48e30ca5b0/0x0.jpg "While Crypto Markets plummet $ 400 billion, Coinbase reveals the main price risks of Bitcoin and Ethereum")
The bitcoin and cryptocurrency market has lost about $ 400 billion since its peak last weekend, with panic spreading among traders.
The price of bitcoin, after reaching a distance of $ 60,000 per bitcoin last week, has plunged nearly 25% – dropping to $ 43,000 (although bitcoin has remained at an almost 50% high since the beginning of 2021).
Now, documents released by the Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange before its long-awaited initial public offering (IPO) have revealed possible events that it fears could destabilize the price of bitcoin and ethereum, potentially damaging its business.
Coinbase, a San Francisco-based bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange, filed for an IPO through … [+]
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Coinbase released documents for its public debut on the Nasdaq stock exchange through a direct listing (meaning it will not seek to raise more money), with the fledgling bitcoin and cryptocurrency company valued at more than $ 100 billion.
As part of the IPO preparations, Coinbase introduced a number of factors that could impact the price of the two largest cryptocurrencies, bitcoin and ethereum – which drive 56% of the total trading volume on the exchange and provide Coinbase with most of its revenue per through transfer fees.
These risk factors include “interruptions, hacks, divisions in the underlying network, also known as ‘bifurcations'”, as well as developments in quantum computing and regulation that affect cryptocurrencies.
“The future development and growth of cryptography is subject to a variety of factors that are difficult to predict and evaluate,” says the document.
Notably, the suit also cited “the identification of Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonym or people who developed bitcoin”, as a potential risk factor, as well as the transfer of bitcoin from Nakamoto, estimated at about $ 30 billion. Some fear that if Nakamoto is identified or introduces himself, it could harm bitcoin’s decentralized nature and reputation.
Nakamoto’s identity has been the subject of severe media scrutiny, with several investigations failing to unmask the mysterious bitcoin developer. In 2016, Australian businessman Craig Wright claimed to be Nakamoto, but has provided no evidence and has since fought an increasingly desperate legal war to be recognized as the creator of bitcoin, alienating much of the bitcoin and cryptocurrency community.
The price of bitcoin has dropped dramatically in the last week, dropping from almost $ 60,000 per bitcoin to … [+]
Coinbase
Bitcoin is known for its extreme volatility. In late 2017, the price of bitcoin rose to around $ 20,000 before dropping to $ 3,000 in 2018. Last year, the price of bitcoin fell to less than $ 4,000 in March, before rebounding over the summer. It started its last bullish run in October, surpassing its 2017 peak in December, when institutional investors showed renewed interest in digital assets.
Last week, the combined value of the 18.6 million bitcoin tokens in circulation reached $ 1 trillion for the first time – double the $ 500 billion it started in 2021 when the cryptocurrency craze came back in force.
“You can expect volatility in our finances, given the price cycles of the cryptocurrency industry,” Coinbase Chief Executive Brian Armstrong wrote in a letter alongside the company’s filing documents this week. “It doesn’t bother us, because we always take a long-term view of adopting cryptography.”