Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ: COIN) officially made its long awaited public debut Wednesday morning. Rather than an Initial Public Offering (IPO), the Cryptocurrency Trading Platform went public via a direct listing, meaning no new shares of the Company were created and existing shares were to be sold at a reference price of USD 250. Shares of Coinbase however opened at a significantly higher price of USD 381, which gave the Company an initial market cap of USD 80 Billion. The Company’s stock at one point soared as high as USD 424.76, later in the day however it then plummeted down to USD 310. Companies that go public via a direct listing usually have aggressive fluctuations as soon as they go public because share prices are determined almost entirely by market demand.

The Coinbase app was launched back in 2013 and it has quickly become the most popular cryptocurrency trading platform in the U.S. The Company makes profit by charging a commission on every crypto transaction made. Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) are the most popular assets traded on the platform, and both have reached record highs this past year. The app also functions as a crypto wallet, meaning that it actually allows users to buy products online using cryptocurrency if possible. In 2018 Coinbase had roughly 22 Million users and the Company was valued at USD 8 Billion. As of today, Coinbase now has over 56 Million users and at its public debut the Company had a valuation of nearly USD 100 Billion. Since last year, monthly transactions on the platform have more than doubled and even more impressively the Company’s revenue has increased nine-times to USD 1.8 Billion. As long as the market for cryptocurrency continues to grow Coinbase will remain a force in the world of investing as a whole.