The U.S. crypto exchange giant Coinbase has officially announced that it will go public via a direct listing. The listing will take place directly on NASDAQ under the ticker “COIN” on April 14. Coinbase had submitted a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) a few weeks ago. The US SEC had declared the exchange’s registration effective on April 1. 

We’re happy to announce that earlier today, the SEC declared our S-1 registration statement effective and that we expect our direct listing to occur on April 14, 2021, with our Class A common stock trading on the @NASDAQ under the ticker symbol COIN.https://t.co/cwRZWmj9Pv

— Coinbase (@coinbase) April 1, 2021

Coinbase anticipates it will be listed as a Class A stock. 

Coinbase announced that it anticipates it will be listed as a Class A stock, which usually means it has more benefits when it comes to voting rights, dividends, and other aspects. The San Francisco-based crypto exchange has been conducting private sales of shares in the weeks prior to this post, which led to a staggering $90 billion valuation. Coinbase will become the first U.S. crypto exchange to get listed on NASDAQ this month. No shares are sold in advance in a direct listing, as is the case with an initial public offering (IPO). 

NASDAQ listing sets a precedent for the crypto industry. 

Coinbase is planning to go public through a direct listing in which it will not raise any new capital, it said in previous filings. The exchange was valued at about $90 billion in its final week of trading on Nasdaq’s private market. The debut will be the first major direct listing to take place on the Nasdaq. All such previous listings were on the New York Stock Exchange, including those by Spotify Technology SA, Slack Technologies Inc., Asana Inc., Palantir Technologies Inc., and Roblox Corp. The Coinbase listing is a major win for the crypto community as the emerging industry continues to gain mainstream exposure around the world.