Coinbase Reportedly Delays the Direct Listing to April

Coinbase’s plans to go public, touted as one of the most significant events in the entire cryptocurrency industry, has been delayed until April, reads a recent Bloomberg report. Interestingly, this comes shortly after the company agreed to pay $6.5 million to the CFTC following an investigation regarding wash trading schemes. 

• CryptoPotato reported in late 2020 that the San Francisco-based crypto giant had submitted a draft registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission to go public with an initial public offering (IPO). 
• Shortly after, though, the firm changed its tune and decided to proceed with a direct listing of its Class A common stock.  
• Initial plans indicated that Coinbase will become a publicly-traded company in March. However, citing people familiar with the matter, a Bloomberg coverage from today said that the move had been postponed until April. 
• Although the report failed to provide a particular reason for the delay, it’s worth noting that the crypto exchange has been investigated for illegal wash trading practices, as reported earlier. 
• According to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Coinbase has provided misleading trading information to services like CoinMarketCap and the CME Bitcoin Real Time Index for three years. Ultimately, the exchange agreed to pay a fine worth $6.5 million. 
• Bloomberg’s report noted that earlier this week Coinbase’s backers registered roughly 115 million shares to trade when the stock lists.  
• A recent regulatory filing showed that some of the names that have registered stocks are company CEO Brian Armstrong, co-founder Fred Ehrsam, as well as the investment firms Union Square Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz. 
• Additionally, the document reads that Coinbase shares have changed hands at prices between $200 and $375 in private transactions in 2020.