Coinbase, the largest U.S. trading platform for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum, is already highly prized by investors even before its debut on New York’s Nasdaq. This year, the company’s shares changed hands for an average of $343.58 in over-the-counter trading, Coinbase disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday. That puts the California-based group’s latest valuation at least $67.6 billion (56.8 billion euros), it said.
Coinbase is benefiting greatly from the enormous cryptocurrency hype ahead of its IPO, which is expected later this month. Last year, the over-the-counter average price for the company’s shares was just $28.83.
Most recently, according to U.S. media reports, even a total valuation of more than 100 billion U.S. dollars was considered a good possibility for the IPO since private transactions usually achieve much lower prices than after the premiere on the public capital market.
Coinbase plans to list 114.9 million shares on Nasdaq, according to a filing with the SEC. However, this is not a traditional IPO but a direct placement without investment banks’ assistance and a prior pricing process.
Coinbase said it made about $1.3 billion in revenue in 2020, more than double the previous year. The bottom line was a profit of 322 million US dollars, after a minus of 30 million in the previous year.