Coinbase Listing Puts Spotlight on Nasdaq As Bitcoin Booms
- First indications show Coinbase opening around $340 per share
- Offering the COIN ticker helped Nasdaq win first big listing
Nasdaq Inc., an exchange that has never hosted a major direct listing, is about to try its hand on the most valuable company to go public using one.
Coinbase Global Inc., the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, is set to debut on Wednesday through a direct listing, an alternative to a traditional initial public offering that has only been deployed a handful of times. While Slack Technologies Inc., Palantir Technologies Inc. and most recently Roblox Corp. all listed on the New York Stock Exchange, Coinbase picked the younger bourse known for tech-oriented companies.
Early indications Wednesday showed the stock opening at $340 per share, which would give Coinbase a market valuation of $63 billion, and a fully diluted valuation of almost $89 billion, according to Bloomberg calculations. That would make it the biggest company to take the direct listing route to market.