Prominent Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase could be headed for an IPO valuation of $100 billion, after shares reportedly sold for up to $375 each in a private auction. Shares in Coinbase Global Inc. reportedly traded for a price between $350 and $375 per unit on the Nasdaq private auction market last week, giving the company a pre-IPO valuation of between $90–$100 billion, according to a report by Bloomberg. Trading reportedly ended with the share price at $350. A Coinbase series E funding round in 2018 first saw the stock valued at a potential $8 billion. That valuation increased …

Cryptocurrency and blockchain firms are attracting billion-dollar valuations as the space continues to see major investment in 2021. The likes of exchanges Coinbase and Kraken have had mind-boggling numbers attached to their plans to raise funds, with the former set to go public through a direct listing and the latter preparing for a lucrative fundraising round. Since it formally announced its plans for a public listing, Coinbase has been tipped to be valued at around $28 billion by cryptocurrency analytics firm Messari. Meanwhile, news of Kraken’s efforts to receive investment from private firms in a new fundraising round saw insiders …

One of the biggest trends in recent months has seen Bitcoin flow out of exchanges into wallets. Generally, this is interpreted as a bullish sign — indicating that investors are optimistic about further growth in cryptocurrency prices. But delve deeper, and there’s more to this than meets the eye. The crypto industry has grown immeasurably over recent years — making stars out of a number of exchanges. Platforms such as Binance and Coinbase now handle billions of dollars in trading volumes every day. With this come concerns that centralization is creeping in — and fears that major exchanges are becoming …

The CEO of the United States’ largest cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, has topped the list of global industry billionaires by China’s Hurun Research Institute. Issued on March 2, the latest Hurun report provides a brief overview of the world’s richest, stating that the number of global billionaires has surged nearly 50% to hit over 3,000 people over the past five years. The report includes 17 “blockchain billionaires,” or industry entrepreneurs who made their fortune “mainly from cryptocurrency” as of January 2021. According to the report, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong is the world’s biggest crypto billionaire, with his net worth surging ten-fold …

Crypto data aggregator Messari has reported that the amount of crypto assets stored in custody on United States exchange giant Coinbase surged in the last quarter of 2020. Messari Crypto has revealed that as much as 11% of the entire crypto market capitalization was held with Coinbase custody at the end of 2020. Coinbase offers custody services for over 90 crypto assets, roughly half of which are tradable on Coinbase’s exchange. The value of assets custodied with Coinbase spiked to roughly $90 billion in the fourth quarter of 2020 as the combined crypto capitalization more than doubled to tag $780 …

Every Friday, Law Decoded delivers analysis on the week’s critical stories in the realms of policy, regulation and law. Editor's note One day in the not-so-distant future, the curious experience of episodic television with its week-by-week gaps will be a weird thing that old people strain themselves not to talk about around the youths, until they eventually get, like, really old and stop caring and start turning all of the logistical inconveniences of their early memories into little moral parables. And by “they,” I mean me. And I’m looking forward to it. It’s possible that entertainment’s on-demand, all-the-time availability is …

United States-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase named Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto in its recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a direct listing on the stock market. According to the SEC filing, Coinbase sent copies of its S-1 registration statement — which, if approved, would bring the company closer to having its shares traded on U.S. stock exchanges — to legal team members at Coinbase Global and California law firm Fenwick & West. In addition, the exchange listed Satoshi Nakamoto and the Bitcoin (BTC) genesis block address as recipients of a copy of the SEC filing. The legendary Bitcoin …

As Coinbase plans to pursue a direct listing on the stock market, which would see its existing shares be traded on United States stock exchanges, the exchange has submitted an S-1 report to the Securities and Exchange Commissio, which details all the relevant data that would help investors conduct due diligence on the company. The document represents the first time that Coinbase publicly revealed sensitive details like revenue and ownership structure. The filing reveals that the exchange posted a direct revenue of $1.1 billion in 2020, a significant increase from $482 million in 2019. About 96% of this revenue is …

United States-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has revealed that Bitcoin (BTC) and other crypto assets have been a key component of its corporate treasury since the company's founding back in 2012. In a new announcement addressed to other corporate actors, the exchange presented its own experience in managing its treasury position in cryptocurrencies as a solid foundation for advising other private and publicly traded companies about how to deal with their own prospective investments. In a newly published, highly detailed corporate treasury FAQ, the exchange provides a thorough overview of the kinds of investment, accounting and tax policies that companies would …

Bison Trails, a leading blockchain infrastructure company, has launched a new protocol that allows customers to scale their node operations without the lag times that normally accompany such functions. Beginning Tuesday, Global Blockchain Synch, or GBS, will allow Bison Trails customers to address the lag times associated with launching a new node operation. The company has claimed this will significantly reduce downtime risk, slashing penalties and costs while at the same time boosting scale and optimized participation. Joe Lallouz, Bison Trails’ CEO, explained the problem: “A significant pain point when launching new nodes is the time it takes for them …

Crypto industry actors in Hong Kong have been trying to push back against a forthcoming law that would restrict legal cryptocurrency trading to professional investors, locking out 93% of the local population from the market. In comments to the South China Morning Post published on Monday, industry body Global Digital Finance warned that the proposed law would likely push retail traders to embrace unregulated platforms. Global Digital Finance represents cryptocurrency exchanges such as BitMEX, Huobi, Coinbase and OKCoin and has been at the forefront of industry efforts to push back against the forthcoming legislation. Hong Kong's Financial Services and the …

Bitcoin’s (BTC) definitive breakout above $50,000 may have to wait longer to materialize as spot buying pressure on Coinbase Pro shows signs of weakening — at least in the short term. The Coinbase Premium Index, which measures the gap between BTC price on Coinbase Pro and Binance, has flipped negative, according to CryptoQuant. In other words, selling pressure on Coinbase appears to be strengthening compared with other exchanges like Binance. A negative reading on the Coinbase Premium Index could be a precursor to short-term resistance. On the other hand, when the premium is high, it indicates strong spot buying pressure …