Coinbase’s impending US listing throws the spotlight on Nasdaq as bitcoin’s value soars to record

Nasdaq, an exchange that has never hosted a major direct listing, is about to test its hand on the most valuable company to go public using one.

While Slack Technologies, Palantir Technologies and most recently Roblox all listed on the New York Stock Exchange, Coinbase picked the younger bourse known for tech-oriented companies. Nasdaq on Tuesday set a reference price of US$250 a share for Coinbase’s direct listing, a number that’s a requirement for the stock to begin trading, but not a direct indicator of the company’s potential market capitalisation. Investors will have a better sense of valuation once shares start trading Wednesday.

Coinbase shares changed hands at a roughly US$90 billion valuation in early March, Bloomberg News reported at the time, in what was one of the last chances for investors to trade its private stock before the company went public. That valuation, based on the US$350-a-share that the stock was trading at on the Nasdaq Private Market auction, would make it the biggest company to take the direct listing route to market.

At US$250 a share, Coinbase would have a market value of about US$47 billion based on the outstanding shares listed in its prospectus. Still, few – if any – trades are likely to happen at that price. Every major direct listing has so far opened significantly above its reference price, with Roblox shares debuting at US$64 each – 42 per cent higher than the number set by the exchange.

Digital Currency Group founder Barry Silbert, who’s built an empire that spans the cryptocurrency world, tweeted Tuesday that his shares would definitely not be changing hands at that price.