Coinbase mobile app
A trading platform with less than 10 percent of ING’s turnover is already worth more than double that of that large Dutch financial institution. It concerns Coinbase, an American platform where consumers can buy and store dozens of different types of cryptocurrency. Trading bitcoins is by far the most important source of income for the company.
The company has been listed on the US Nasdaq since afternoon, with an introductory price of $ 250.
Coinbase has been in existence for less than ten years, has 1,200 employees, no headquarters, 56 million customers and had sales of 1.1 billion euros in 2020.
In comparison, ING has a history that goes back more than 140 years, has 57,000 people working in offices around the world, 39 million customers and had an annual turnover of 18 billion euros. Still, with the current stock market price, the crypto trader is already worth twice that of ING.
It has everything to do with the high expectations of some around the company. As long as the bitcoin price rises, Coinbase’s revenue will also increase. The company deducts a percentage from every transaction.
In recent months, the bitcoin price has broken record after record and Coinbase’s revenues have also increased. In the first three months of this year, a turnover of 1.5 billion euros was achieved, with a doubling of the bitcoin price.
The IPO of the crypto platform pushes the price of bitcoin further up, just like that of other cryptocoins. Today a new record was set: a bitcoin is worth $ 64,716, ten times as much as exactly a year ago. That price movement in turn ensures that Coinbase has more sales and the expectations around that company increase. And that in turn can lead to a further rise in the bitcoin price.
There are also risks involved in the IPO of Coinbase. The company lists dozens of risks in the prospectus published before the IPO, such as the collapse of the bitcoin market, internet attacks, and the loss of computer keys that give access to the crypto coins. If bitcoin’s value crashes, Coinbase’s revenue will also fall.
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This IPO is a milestone in the coming of age of crypto
The IPO of the crypto trading platform means that the world of digital currencies has come one step closer to the ‘traditional’ financial world. Several large banks and insurers do not want to invest money in cryptocurrencies, but are active on stock exchanges. On the US stock exchange, Coindesk’s value was close to $ 100 billion after it opened, later it dropped to $ 85 billion at a price of $ 328.
“This IPO is a milestone the coming of age of crypto, “says Teunis Brosens, crypto expert and ING economist. He sees more and more signs of the crypto world becoming more mature.” The regulations are clearer, traditional financial markets are increasingly interested in crypto, investment funds invest in it. Last week, the Dutch asset manager Robeco said it was looking into it. You see more and more parties sniffing it around. “
Some other companies that are already listed on the stock exchange are also entering the world of cryptocurrency. For example, the Amsterdam flash trader Flow Traders has been registered as a trader in cryptocurrency since last month. Automaker Tesla announced at the beginning of this year that it had invested $ 1.5 billion in bitcoins and that a new Tesla can soon be settled with bitcoins.
