Coinbase soars in market debut, valued near $86 billion

Coinbase has made a rousing debut on Wall Street.

The digital currency exchange’s stock rose as high as $429, briefly giving it a market value over $100 billion.

The company’s listing on a public stock exchange is seen by some as an inflection point for digital currencies, as Coinbase’s fortunes are seen as closely tied to Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency.

That market value makes Coinbase one of the biggest publicly traded U.S. companies — just 93 companies in the S&P 500 index have a higher market value.

Founded in 2012, Coinbase became popular among cryptocurrency fans by providing them with an easier way to exchange shares of Bitcoin and other digital currencies.

Bitcoin topped $64,000 Wednesday, up from $29,000 at the start of the year, and Coinbase said recently that its first-quarter revenue should total around $1.8 billion, exceeding its revenue for all of 2020.

Shares of Coinbase are trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker “COIN” and closed at $328.28.

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