Coinbase Global Inc., has been approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to list on the Nasdaq - setting the stage for what will be a big win for cryptocurrency advocates.
The biggest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase said it would start trading April 14,Reuters reported Friday.
Founded in 2012, Coinbase provides services for institutional and retail clients in the digital currency markets. The company has grown to 1,200 staff and 43 million customers in more than 100 countries.
The San Francisco, California-based cryptocurrency exchange - ranked No. 10 on the 2018 CNBC Disruptor 50 List - generated $1.3 billion in revenue and turned a profit of $322 million last year.
Based on previous filings, Coinbase said it is seeking to go public via a direct listing in which the cryptocurrency exchange won't raise any new capital.
Coinbase said it planned to register almost 115 million common stock shares.
According to Bloomberg News, Coinbase was valued at around $90 billion in its final week of trading on Nasdaq's private market. Coinbase debut on Nasdaq will be the first big direct listing on the U.S. exchange.
In a regulatory filing in March, Coinbase said its private market stock traded at a weighted average price of $343.57 in the first quarter this year - an almost thirteenfold increase in its valuation to almost $70 billion in just a few months.
"The Coinbase listing has the highest effect on price among exchange listings with an average five-day return of 29%," cryptocurrency intelligence company Messari researcher Roberto Talamas said.
With $1 billion in available cash, Coinbase has a big war chest to ride bitcoin's unexpected ascent and drops, The Wall Street Journal said.
