Coinbase is set to go public via direct listing on April 14.- Many view it as a significant milestone for the
cryptocurrency space. - Insider compiled views from eight experts on what it could mean for the rapidly growing digital currency market.
Coinbase's debut on the
Adding to the excitement, the cryptocurrency trading giant reported a whopping $1.8 billion revenue in the first quarter of the year on April 6, compared to the $1.3 billion for all of 2020.
On the back of the eye-popping earnings, DA Davidson analyst Gil Luria increased his price target by 125% to $440 from $195. The analyst derived his adjusted price target from a 20x multiple based on the company's expected revenue this year.
The record-breaking quarter for Coinbase moved in lockstep with
Bitcoin on Tuesday broke its record for the second straight day, soaring to an all-time high above $63,000 amid excitement ahead of Coinbase's direct listing. The popular coin was trading higher by 5% to $63,082 as of 4:20 p.m. ET Tuesday.
The rally extended to other
Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the US, offers a wide range of products and services from trading and custody services to offering a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar. It has 43 million users in more than 100 countries.
Here's what eight crypto-industry experts had to say about Coinbase's public debut:
"The direct listing of Coinbase is a huge market signal, however, we're yet to see whether the long-term effect on the crypto industry will be positive or negative ... We are big fans of what Coinbase has done to date, but we worry about the centralizing effects of the concentration of users on a single platform, negating the true benefits of decentralization." - Alberto Jauregui, growth lead of Pocket Network, a blockchain data ecosystem
"The Coinbase listing is a huge step for the digital asset industry from both a mainstream adoption and regulatory point of view, signifying the acceptance of cryptocurrency business in traditional finance. Other exchanges following in Coinbase's footsteps are entirely based on their readiness to go public. This will pave the way for Coinbase's competitors to join the
"The success of Coinbase and its direct listing will bring on the next wave of new users to cryptocurrencies by continuing to solve the challenges of owning, storing, and providing custody to digital assets. This public listing will also have an enormous impact on the entire digital asset industry by opening the gate to further Wall Street and institutional investment and confirming that the future of finance is decentralized." - Leo Cheng, co-founder and project lead at C.R.E.A.M. Finance, a decentralized lending protocol
"Going public is stepping into the big leagues. Crypto is becoming part of the traditional finance sector ... This level of adoption seemed like a dream scenario just a year ago. A lot of users still keep funds on Coinbase and look at it as merely a trading platform. But more are beginning to wake up and understand that Coinbase is an important gateway to getting started in the crypto sector." - Kadan Stadelmann, CTO of Komodo, an open-source technology workshop and blockchain solutions provider
"When we entered into the market three years ago it was a new and novel industry, everyone had to wrap their heads around what we were doing as a business, the terminology we were using, and the potential value a bitcoin mining operation could hold. People saw us as a speculative gamble. This year we are seeing people move beyond that. Crypto is not a novel thing anymore, but the hot new asset class for equities." - Emiliano Grodzki, CEO of Bitfarms, a global public bitcoin mining operation
"The growth and expansion of cryptocurrencies had always been at odds with the interests of traditional financial systems ... The
"The Coinbase direct listing is going to further build credibility and legitimacy for the cryptocurrency
"The Coinbase direct listing is going to be a bullish event for a host of reasons ... In the short term I expect to see a narrative forming that highlights the importance of A-tier [cryptocurrency exchanges] in the crypto ecosystem, but the narrative will then likely shift to focus on the alternative structure and benefits that [decentralized exchanges] and DeFi can offer to users." - Major, a moderator of Harvest Finance, a yield aggregator