Coinbase, the largest US cryptocurrency company, went one step closer to the Nasdaq, with their official records going public on Thursday, revealing that it made a profit last year as bitcoin was launched.
Approval by the US Securities and Exchange Commission for such a listing would be a major victory for cryptocurrency advocates, competing for ratification for an area that has struggled to win the trust of major investors, regulators and the public.
It will pave the way for a higher list of shares of a company that focuses mainly on cryptocurrency trading and could also be seen as a tacit regulatory approval of the investment goods traded on its platform.
In its statement, Coinbase stated that it had not received approval from regulators that would allow it to exchange cryptocurrencies that had been classified as securities in the United States. While bitcoin is considered a commodity by US financial regulators, most other cryptocurrencies have not yet been classified as commodities or securities.
In December, Coinbase suspended trading in XRP encryption after the SEC accused the related company Ripple of conducting an unregistered securities offering.
The price of bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, reached more than 300% at the end of 2020, while earlier this month, it reached a record $58,354 with a market capitalisation of over $1 trillion.
Bitcoin fell slightly from its recent highs this week as investors were stressed by the high ratings. The deposit provides the first detailed look at Coinbase finances since the company was founded in San Francisco in 2012.
It shows that Coinbase in 2020 had total revenue of $1.3 billion, up from $533.7 million in 2019. It reported net income of $322.3 million, offset by a loss of $30.4 million.
In the file, Coinbase, which was valued at more than $8 billion in the last round of fundraising in 2018, did not disclose the date on which it intends to list shares in the Nasdaq. It also did not disclose the price at which its share was recently traded on private markets. This will serve as a pricing reference point when published on the Nasdaq.
Coinbase avoids the traditional way of the initial public offering where a company raises money by selling new shares, choosing instead to publish a direct listing where no new stock is sold and existing shareholders can sell shares.
It is one of the most popular encryption platforms in the world, with more than 43 million users in more than 100 countries.
The New York Stock Exchange, the multinational Spanish group BBVA and the former CEO of Citigroup Inc., Vikram Pandit, are among those who have invested in Coinbase.
Coinbase said in December it had submitted a confidential request to the US Securities and Exchange Commission for publication. Reuters reported in July that Coinbase had launched plans to list its shares on the stock exchange.