The U.S. based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Thursday announced that it has received approval from regulators to list its shares on the Nasdaq and expects to start trading on April 14. The company will trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol COIN. The green signal from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) marks a major milestone for digital currency advocates who have struggled hard to win the trust of mainstream investors, regulators, and the general public. Previously deemed too speculative and volatile, cryptocurrency have now been embraced by many traditional banks and institutional investors.
In a blogpost shared Thursday, the cryptocurrency firm said its shares were declared effective by the SEC and it will begin trdaing from April 14. Under direct listing, shares are not sold in advance, which is the case with an IPO. The company’s share price will be determined by orders coming into the stock exchange.
Founded in 2012, Coinbase is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in United States with around 43 million users worldwide. The agency offers a platform for users to buy and sell several cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Litecoin etc. Coinbase’s recent private market transactions had valued the company at around $68 billion this year.
Earlier this week, Visa also gave a go-ahead to the use of the cryptocurrency USD Coin to settle transactions on its payment network, while PayPal started allowing US consumers to use their cryptocurrency holdings to pay its millions of global online merchants. The company has recently announced its plan to set up a branch in India.
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In a blog post, the company said that it is now hiring in India and expects to open a physical office, initially in Hyderabad, for Indian employees as COVID-related conditions allow. ‘’India has long been known as a hub for engineering and technology innovation, and we look forward to finding that world-class talent to help the Coinbase group develop new ways for our customers to interact with the cryptoeconomy’’, the company added.