US-based cryptocurrency trading platform developer Coinbase will look to go public through a direct listing that could enable corporate investors New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), BBVA, NTT Docomo and USAA to exit.
The company had confidentially filed for an initial public offering in December 2020 but has instead chosen a direct offering, which will involve only existing shareholders selling shares, as opposed to new shares being issued and bought by underwriters.
Coinbase’s online platform enables users to buy, sell and store a range of cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin. The price of Bitcoin recently doubled in under three months while that of Etherium has tripled in a similar timeframe.
The listing would come in the wake of approximately $517m in funding for the company, including $75m in a 2015 series C round featuring trading exchange operator NYSE, financial services providers BBVA and USAA, and Docomo Capital, part of mobile network operator NTT Docomo.
DFJ Growth led the round, which valued Coinbase at $490m and which included existing backers Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures and Ribbit Capital in addition to Vikram Pandit.
The company received $10.5m in 2016 from financial services firm Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group’s Mitsubishi UFJ Capital and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ subsidiaries in addition to Sozo Ventures.
Coinbase added $100m in series D funding from Polychain Capital, IVP, Spark Capital, Greylock, Battery Ventures, Section 32 and Draper Associates at a $1.6bn valuation in 2017.
Tiger Global Management, Y Combinator Continuity, Wellington Management, Andreessen Horowitz and Polychain provided $300m the following year in a series E round valuing the company at $8bn.
Polychain CEO Olaf Carlson-Wee told Forbes last week the valuation of the company could theoretically top $100bn when it goes public.
