Coinbase listing points to growth in crypto
The listing of cryptocurrency platform Coinbase on the Nasdaq is an indication of how cryptocurrency is becoming a mainstream offering, according to BTC Markets.
The firm, which had 56 million verified users, had a market cap of around US$90 billion ($116.5 billion) which made it one of the largest publicly-traded US companies.
Caroline Bowler, chief executive of Bitcoin exchange BTC Markets, said retail investors were “intruiged” by cryptocurrency and emerging digital asset classes. The price of one Bitcoin had now reached $81,000, up from $10,000 a year ago.
Her firm had seen a 40% increase in account openings from the first half to the second half of 2020. This was particularly the case for investors under 30 who now made up nearly half of the firm’s clients.
"Coinbase’s listing is an industry first, but it certainly won’t be the last. It’s only a matter of time until the ASX does something similar,” Bowler said.
“Australia is at a tipping point where digital asset exchanges such as ours are proactively calling for regulatory oversight of the domestic digital assets market so that we can follow our overseas counterparts in the US, UK, Europe, Hong Kong, and Singapore who have successfully pulled ahead in regulating their cryptocurrency markets.”
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
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