Coinbase: the crypto king goes public

As crypto giant Coinbase entered the public market with a blockbuster opening, we’ve taken a look at their wild ride, from startup to stock float, establishment outsider to darling of Wall Street. Closing its first day of trading at a valuation of $86B, up from its listing at $65B, it’s hard to overstate the significance of this moment for the whole crypto space.

Cashing on the boom of crypto economy

Coinbase’s entrance in the public market comes at a time of broader crypto momentum. Bitcoin and Etherum are at all time highs, NFTs are all the rage and Elon’s still tweeting about Dogecoin. But Coinbase’s own performance has been impressive by any standard, with $1.8B of revenues in the first quarter for 2021, more than in all 2020.

Benchmarking multiples

Coinbase now sits among the giants of the financial sector, and is trading at multiples lower than many more established players, but its revenues are almost entirely dependent on trading fees.

Robinhood wants to eat in the crypto table

Coinbase profits could be driven down in a war on margin with other crypto exchanges, but competition could also come from another trading giant. Robinhood increased its crypto users by 450% in Q1 2021.

A wild ride to IPO

On their nine year journey, Coinbase has been one of those home runs all VC and private investors dream of. Check out every early Coinbase investor, including Nas joining at the same round as a16z.