Coinbase Shares Skyrocket After Successful Nasdaq Debut
Coinbase (a cryptocurrency exchange) shook Wall Street earlier this week when it started trading on the Nasdaq. Coinbase Global shares saw a whopping 71 percent spike following the listing. The company’s listing on the stock market is being regarded as a major breakthrough for the cryptocurrency space.
This recent development is likely to act as a catalyst for cryptocurrencies, ushering them from the sidelines into the mainstream.
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Steering crypto into the mainstream
Coinbase’s listing on the stock market is one of the most important events for the blooming cryptocurrency sector. This development has tremendous potential to drive the adoption of cryptocurrencies and turn them into the mainstream.
Coinbase went public in a direct listing on April 14, 2021. Coinbase takes a cut from every Bitcoin transaction made on its platform. The company’s revenue hit the $ 1.28 billion mark in 2020, out of which, nearly 86 percent was collected through those transaction fees.
According to a survey conducted by CivicScience, around 66 percent of adults in the U.S. are not interested in cryptocurrencies. [1]
According to Brian Armstrong, Chief Executive, Coinbase said that he is hopeful that Coinbase going public will be hailed as a monumental moment within the crypto industry.
The increasing anticipation for Coinbase’s direct public listing led to a surge in the prices of cryptocurrencies last week.
What are the experts saying?
According to the experts operating within the crypto sector, Coinbase’s success could be short-lived, primarily because it earns revenues via transaction fees.
This business model would eventually mean lower revenues coming in when the market is ripe with competition. According to a Bank of America survey, more than 74 percent of fund managers are of the opinion that Bitcoin is a bubble.
While there is a bit of uncertainty, leading companies such as MasterCard and Visa have started experimenting with cryptocurrencies.
More about Coinbase
Coinbase is the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S., and it enables consumers to use mainstream currencies to buy and sell different cryptocurrencies which include Ether, Mana, Stellar, Litecoin, and SushiSwap among others.
Image Source: Coinbase
Source
[1] (2019) Commisso.D “Americans Have Trust Issues with Facebook’s Cryptocurrency” CivicScience [online] Available from:
https://civicscience.com/americans-have-trust-issues-with-facebooks-cryptocurrency/[accessed April 2021]
