Bitcoin breaks records as imminent Coinbase Global Inc listing makes crypto the

The imminent direct listing of crypto trading platform on Wednesday is likely to be watched closely by investors both inside and outside the crypto industry after Bitcoin and other cryptos reached fresh highs ahead of the debut.

In late-morning trading in London on Tuesday, the original cryptocurrency reached a new high of around US$62,857. By lunchtime, it had fallen back slightly but was still up 4.8% at US$62,779.

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Similarly, Ether, the second-most popular crypto on the market, also hit a record high of around US$2,216 on Tuesday morning.

While the surge in Bitcoin’s value has not been linked directly to the upcoming Coinbase listing, the trend seems to indicate that many are expecting the company’s debut will prove a successful one, potentially driving even more interest in the industry sparked late last year by Bitcoin’s meteoric rise.

Coinbase allows users to buy, sell, send and exchange cryptos including Bitcoin, which was valued at around US$90bn in private share trading in early March.

Its future as a publicly traded firm was also given a boost last week when it reported that active users on its platform had surged to 6.1mln from 2.8mln in the fourth quarter of 2020, while verified users, those with Coinbase accounts, jumped to 56mln from 43mln.

Meanwhile, the firm reported that it had raked in US$1.8bn over the period as well as a net income of around US$730-US$800mln. The company also saw its trading volumes top US$335bn, while the total assets on its platform swelled to US$223bn from US$90bn in the fourth quarter of last year. Around US$122bn of those assets came from institutions, showing the firm has managed to attract professional cash into the crypto market.

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A strong start for Coinbase could also encourage other firms in the space to consider a listing on the stock exchanges.

It may also accelerate the rise of Bitcoin and other crypto-related exchange-traded products (ETPs) such as the BTC etc Bitcoin Exchange Traded Crypto ETP, which listed on the ’s XETRA platform last June and since then has seen its assets under management swell to over US$1bn.