Coinbase, the US-based cryptocurrency trading platform operator that counts corporates New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), NTT Docomo, BBVA and USAA as investors, filed confidentially for an initial public offering yesterday.
The company has not disclosed the domestic market on which it plans to list its shares, but the prospective offering is expected to net it a valuation significantly higher than the $8bn post-money valuation at which it secured $300m in funding in late 2018.
Founded in 2012, Coinbase runs an online platform that lets users trade digital currencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin. It announced the confidential filing at a time when Bitcoin has risen by some 30% over the past month to an all-time high above $23,000.
The company may eschew a traditional IPO and opt for a direct listing, sources told Reuters in July this year. It has raised a total of $517m in funding altogether.
The 2018 series E round was led by hedge fund manager Tiger Global Management and included Y Combinator Continuity, Wellington Management, Andreessen Horowitz and Polychain.
IVP, Spark Capital, Greylock, Battery Ventures, Section 32 and Draper Associates had provided $100m in series D funding for the company at a $1.6bn valuation the previous year.
Financial services group Mitsubishi UFJ Financial’s Mitsubishi UFJ Capital and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ subsidiaries had joined Sozo Ventures to supply $10.5m in funding for Coinbase in 2016.
The company received $75m in a 2015 series C round featuring financial services firms BBVA and USAA, stock exchange operator NYSE and Docomo Capital, a corporate venturing vehicle for mobile network operator NTT Docomo,
DFJ Growth led the round, which included Vikram Pandit, Tom Glocer and existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures and Ribbit Capital. Coinbase’s earlier backers include SV Angel, Y Combinator and Fundersclub.
