Coinbase’s COIN completes first day of trading on NYSE – Up 31%

Ever since popular cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase announced its plans to go public earlier this year, the crypto investors have been hyped to get in on the IPO. Now, the exchange has finally concluded its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), with a closing price of $328. A 31% jump from the reference price of $250 per share set by NYSE.

Coinbase’s stock dubbed COIN, saw a volatile first day on the NYSE, with the token surging to a high of $429 as investors from both the crypto and traditional markets rushed to get their hands on the stocks of the first Bitcoin trading company to go public. On the same day, Bitcoin also hit a new all-time high.

At the time of writing, the current price of COIN puts the company’s valuation at $65.39 Billion, with the number touching $100 billion during its rally past $400.

In an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong highlighted that 96% of the company’s revenue in 2020 was generated from transaction fees. On whether margin compression would be an issue, considering the rise in competition, Armstrong noted that the company had started monetizing different products and services to create more predictable revenue channels.

According to the CEO, this, along with the rapid development within the crypto space, would prevent potential margin compression in the short to mid-term. He said:

“We haven’t seen any margin compression yet, and I actually wouldn’t expect to see it in the short and the mid term. Longer term, yes I do think there could be fee compression just like in every other asset class out there.”

He went on to add that he expects the different monetized services the platform offers, to account for 50% of the company’s revenue in the future.

Bullish on COIN

Meanwhile, most analysts seem to be bullish about the COIN stock and expect the price of the shares to go up. Don Tapscott, Executive Chairman of the Blockchain Research Institute, has even called the Coinbase IPO “the biggest IPO in history.” 

“It’ll mint 1,000 millionaires who will reinvest their windfall into this industry accelerating the adoption of this tech. It’ll also be the first and only large-cap company institutions will feel comfortable owning and they’ll buy it in droves.” He said recently.

Contributed by The Daily Chain.