Coinbase valuation soars to $68 billion ahead of highly anticipated crypto listing

Coinbase valuation soars to $68 billion ahead of highly anticipated crypto listing

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has reached an implied $68 billion valuation ahead of its highly anticipated direct listing on the Nasdaq.

The latest valuation is based on a volume-weighted average share price Coinbase cited in a revised S-1 filing released Wednesday. The company reported private shares trading at $343.58 apiece for the first quarter of 2021 ended March 15, which increases the company's valuation 13-fold.

According to PitchBook data, the company was last valued at $8 billion in October 2018.

The revised regulatory filing also shows that the company has more than 196 million shares outstanding for the first quarter of 2021, resulting in the latest valuation figure. While private market value is less indicative of a company's share worth, the Nasdaq will use that information to set a reference price for the company ahead of its direct listing.

"Those secondary market share sales help give a ballpark of where they may be valued in the public market, but we put less weight on them than, say, if the company had raised money from new investors at that level," said Matthew Kennedy, Senior IPO Market Strategist at Renaissance Capital.

Coinbase's first filing in February showed the company reported a profit of $322 million last year on