The Coinbase logo is displayed on a smartphone.
Chris Delmas | AFP via Getty Images
LONDON – Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies hit new heights on Wednesday. Traders were waiting for Coinbase’s much-anticipated debut.
According to data from Coin Metrics, the world’s most valuable digital coin rose to an all-time high of $ 64,841 on Wednesday morning. The price of ether, the second largest sign by market value, briefly hit the $ 2,400 level for the first time.
As of 8:30 a.m. ET, Bitcoin was trading at $ 6.24,248, up 2.2%, while Ether rose 4.5% to $ 2,390. Other Bitcoin alternatives also rose, with XRP rising 0.5% to $ 1.81 and Cardano hitting a new price record of $ 1.56.
Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the United States, will go public on Wednesday via a landmark direct listing that could value the company at up to $ 100 billion. The Nasdaq gave Coinbase a reference price of $ 250 per share, which, if fully diluted, would value the company at around $ 65.3 billion.
Coinbase is the largest cryptocurrency company to go public. According to CoinMarketCap, it is the second largest exchange for digital assets in the world in terms of trading volume. With its easy-to-use app, crypto was brought into the mainstream. The company had estimated sales of $ 1.8 billion in the first quarter of 2021 as the value of Bitcoin and other tokens skyrocketed.
The company’s public listing has sparked renewed excitement in the crypto market, and some investors have referred to this as a “turning point” for the industry. According to analysts, the Coinbase debut shows that crypto has matured significantly in the past two to three years – but it is still in its infancy and continues to be marred by price volatility and regulatory uncertainties.
Bitcoin’s comeback – the price of which more than doubled in 2021 – was marked by big bets from mainstream investors. Tesla invested $ 1.5 billion in the token earlier this year, and Wall Street giants like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley wanted to offer their wealthy customers some exposure to crypto.
Bitcoin bulls see it as a kind of “digital gold” that does not correlate with other assets and can serve as a hedge against rising inflation. However, skeptics say the digital asset is still very speculative and consider it to be one of the largest market bubbles in history.
