Coinbase Shares Open At $381, $100B Valuation On Debut

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global, Inc. COIN, which debuted on the Nasdaq through a direct listing, made history of sorts in its first session.

What Happened: Coinbase shares were given a reference price of $250 a piece by the Nasdaq after the exchange chose to take the direct listing route instead of a traditional IPO.

A direct listing allows existing shareholders to sell shares at a market-determined price. This would do away with the tedium and high costs associated with an IPO.

In a 424B4 prospectus filing with the SEC Wednesday, Coinbase said up to 114,850,769 shares of its Class A shares are eligible for sale by its shareholders. The company has a dual-class structure with Class A and Class B common stock, with both classes having the same rights, except with respect to voting and conversion.

Related Link: How To Trade The Coinbase IPO On Wednesday

$100B Valuation In No Time As of April 12, Coinbase had a fully diluted market cap of 261.3 million, counting the outstanding shares and all outstanding stock options and restricted stock unit. The count, however, does not include common stock reserved for issuance under the company's equity compensation plans or its 1% pledge commitment.

The stock opened Wednesday afternoon at $381 and rose to a high of $410 before pulling back slightly. At the intraday peak of $410, Coinbase's valuation works out to $107.13 billion.

In comparison, Tesla, Inc. TSLA took about 10 years to hit the milestone following its debut and tech giant Apple Inc. AAPL, the most valued U.S. company, achieved the feat in about 27 years.

Coinbase's buoyancy is tied to the crypto frenzy, as most cryptocurrencies are seeing irrational exuberance.

At press time, Coinbase shares were trading at $384.83.