Coinbase News

• Coinbase, a platform widely used to buy, sell, and store cryptocurrency, filed a confidential draft registration on Form S-1 with the SEC on Thursday, the first step toward an initial public offering.
• The news comes as Bitcoin hit a record high, bolstering other cryptocurrencies.

The major cryptocurrency platform Coinbase confidentially filed IPO paperwork to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company announced Thursday, officially setting off the process to go public in the future.

The company has been preparing for an initial public offering since July, according to Reuters. Coinbase would be the first major US Cryptocurrency exchange to go public.

Coinbase was founded in 2012 by current CEO and board director Brian Armstrong and board director Fred Ehrsam.

The company has raised $525 million to date and was last valued at $8 billion, according to Pitchbook.

The news comes as Bitcoin hits record highs, with a price of $23,770.85 on Thursday, bolstering the price of other cryptocurrencies.

Coinbase’s filing comes after a string of other IPOs and IPO filings. Multiple startups, including DoorDash, Airbnb, Affirm, Roblox, and Wish, have filed to go public or gone public this year.  

Amid the crypto surge, Armstrong cautioned newcomers to cryptocurrency in a blog post published Wednesday. 

“While it’s great to see market rallies and see news organizations turn attention to this emerging asset class in a new way, we cannot emphasize enough how important it is to understand that investing in crypto is not without risk,” he wrote. 

In recent months, the CEO has also faced backlash from employees over company policies.

In June, Armstrong declined to say “Black Lives Matter” in a meeting, deeming the statement “divisive.”

And in September, Armstrong told employees that he wanted the company to be “laser-focused” on its mission to expand access to Cryptocurrencies and implied that activism was a distraction in the workplace.

In the wake of the memo, 60 employees, about 5% of the startup’s workforce, voluntarily resigned from the company. 

Coinbase announces confidential submission of draft registration statement

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.

This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities.

Any offers, solicitations or offers to buy, or any sales of securities will be made in accordance with the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”).

This announcement is being issued in accordance with Rule 135 under the Securities Act.

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