Shares in Coinbase Global Inc had a choppy Nasdaq debut on Wednesday, with the cryptocurrency exchange’s valuation swinging from as high as $112 billion to as low as $83 billion.
Coinbase’s stock market debut, done through a direct listing where no shares are sold ahead of the opening, marks another milestone in the development of bitcoin and other digital assets.
It comes amid a surge in the value of cryptocurrencies which has lured a clutch of mainstream, top-tier firms dive into the space.
Coinbase’s stock opened at $381 per share, up 52.4% from a reference price of $250 per share set on Tuesday though only 10.9% above the $343.58 volume-weighted average price Coinbase’s shares were trading at privately in the first quarter of 2021.
The stock reversed gains to trade at around $318 at 3:02pm eastern time. At $318, Coinbase has a fully diluted valuation, which includes unvested stock options and restricted stocks, of $83 billion and a market capitalization of $63.3 billion.
By comparison, New York Stock Exchange owner Intercontinental Exchange Inc has a market cap of around $66 billion.
Founded in 2012, the San Francisco-based firm boasts 56 million users globally and an estimated $223 billion assets on its platform, accounting for 11.3% of crypto asset market share, regulatory filings showed.
“We’re just very grateful to be able to bring transparency to the crypto economy, the ecosystem that we’ve all been building over the last 10 years,” Coinbase Chief Financial Officer Alesia Haas said in an interview.
“It just brings this level of recognition that this is an industry that is here, that is growing, and that (is not just) in the corners.”
Coinbase was valued at just under $6 billion as recently as September, but has surged in line with bitcoin’s gains this year.
