The cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has filed the preliminary documents for its upcoming IPO just days after Bitcoin surged to $20,000 for the first time ever.
The company's initial public offering has been rumored for months now but it recently took the first step towards making it a reality by filing its Form S-1 with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In a short blog post, Coinbase explained that its documents still need to be reviewed by the SEC before it can go forward with its IPO, saying:
“Coinbase Global, Inc. today announced that it has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). The Form S-1 is expected to become effective after the SEC completes its review process, subject to market and other conditions.”
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Back in October of 2018, Coinbase was valued at $8bn after completing a massive Series E funding round. However, at that time, Bitcoin had slumped to just $6,000 following the cryptocurrency crash of 2017. Now that the cryptocurrency is worth even more than it was at its previous peak, Coinbase's valuation could be significantly higher than it was two years ago.
Coinbase IPO
According to Coinbase, the company filed its preliminary documents confidentially with the SEC which will allow it to begin the process of being listed publicly. The cryptocurrency exchange will likely go public next year but it is still unclear whether it plans to do so via an IPO or a direct listing.
Over the summer, rumors that Coinbase was exploring a stock market listing surfaced when Retuers reported that it had begun the process of taking its shares public. Anonymous sources said at the time that it was looking at a direct listing but that may have changed in the months since.
With Coinbase's IPO on the horizon, PayPal announcing that it would allow users to buy and sell cryptocurrency and Bitcoin's recent surge, cryptocurrency has finally become mainstream again after 2017's cryptocurrency boom came to an end.
We'll likely find out more from Coinbase once the SEC completes its review process of the company's Form S-1.
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Via Coindesk
