What does it mean for cryptocurrencies that Coinbase goes public

Coinbase, the largest U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange in the world, has revealed its plan for the upcoming Nasdaq listing (Nasdaq shares). Coinbase filed a report with the US SEC, outlining key information such as revenue and ownership structure for investors.

The data revealed by the exchange

According to the document, Coinbase has 43 million verified users and an average of 2,8 million transactions per month. In 2020, the company returned net income of $ 322 million from total revenue of $ 3,4 billion, with transaction fees making up 96% of net revenues.

Coinbase, which derives the majority of its profits from bitcoin and Ethereum transactions, also saw a 56% increase on its direct revenues of $ 1,1 billion for 2020 compared to $ 482 million in 2019.

The company incurred expenses totaling $ 880 million in 2020, most of which were broken down by sales, general administrative expenses, and research and development. The reversal of transactions, the commissions of staking and verification fees represented approximately $ 135 million of total expenses

Coinbase also earned $ 533 million in 2019, versus $ 579 million in development and operating costs, bringing losses to a total of $ 46 million.

With its move Coinbase says "cryptocurrencies are now a public thing"

The document also indicates that much of the revenue for 2020 was generated by the activity of institutional investors in the cryptocurrency market, but with higher retail activity in the fourth quarter of 2020 than in previous quarters.

Coinbase's debut as the first publicly listed cryptocurrency exchange in the United States is estimated to be one of the biggest tech industry happenings of 2021. This will have a huge (positive) impact on cryptocurrency market investors and blockchain technology advocates.

According to cryptocurrency trader and analyst Rekt Capital, the public listing will officially open cryptocurrencies to the public. "Coinbase going public is another way of saying cryptography is going public."

Coinbase becomes decentralized

The update comes a month after Coinbase chose Nasdaq as its direct listing route on February 1, following a secondary launch of Coinbase shares by the private Nasdaq market on January 25.

Now that Coinbase has moved to a remote environment with no headquarters in any city, the company refers to itself as a decentralized company. Up to 95% of Coinbase employees have the option of working at home, in a post-office environment, or a mix of both.

“Since we made the decision to go remote first, we have decentralized ourselves; even after people can safely return to the office, the executive team has no plans to be "in office" on a regular basis and none of them currently live in San Francisco. "