On some level, the Coinbase Nasdaq listing solves this problem for Bitcoin. Upon listing, traditional investors would have indirect access to the crypto sector through the Coinbase platform.
On Tuesday morning, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) hit a new record high, trading at $62,700. The Bitcoin record interestingly happened just one day ahead of a Coinbase Nasdaq listing scheduled for April 14.
Stack Funds co-founder and COO, Mathew Dibb, has expressed optimism about how the upcoming listing ties to Bitcoin’s price. In a conversation with CoinDesk, Dibb says that the upcoming listing’s valuation should spur a ranking adjustment. He explains:
“Cryptocurrency markets are showing robust strength ahead of the Coinbase IPO as bitcoin moves into the all-time high territory…A re-rating of crypto assets is definitely on the cards following the $100b valuations of Coinbase’s shares (COIN).
To date, many members of the traditional community are seemingly reluctant to join the crypto bandwagon because of its inherent volatility. On some level, the Coinbase Nasdaq listing solves this problem for Bitcoin. Upon listing, traditional investors would have indirect access to the crypto sector through the Coinbase platform. The upside for investors like this is that they can avoid holding crypto assets, somewhat sidestepping volatility.
However, Coinbase is a crypto platform whose success or failure largely depends on the sector. At the moment, analysts value the listing at an extensive range of between $19 billion and $250 billion. According to investment research firm New Constructs, the COIN valuation should be somewhere around $18.9 billion. For digital asset research firm Delphi Digital, this figure jumps to a $160 billion to $230 billion range.
Bitcoin and the Coinbase Listing
According to a recent Willy Woo subscriber newsletter, Bitcoin has very interesting short and long-term predictions. In the short term, Woo believes that buyers will keep amassing Bitcoin and continuously buy each dip. He says that this will keep happening while Bitcoin consolidates and probably trades sideways to surpass its $61k ceiling.
For the long term, Woo is a lot more bullish. According to him, the current bull market points to a ”target above $300k.” Woo defends this opinion with the fact that miner revenue has scaled its 2017 high. When this happens, Bitcoin consolidates firmly and hits what Woo describes as a “halfway point” in the bull run. This means that Bitcoin is about ready to begin the “second leg of its bull run of 2021.” The $300k prediction assumes that the current Bitcoin cycle ends in December.
A few major funds also have high targets for Bitcoin. According to Ark Investment, the entire Bitcoin market capitalization could “comfortably eclipse” that of gold, surpassing $10 trillion. In all of these, there is considerable evidence that Bitcoin adoption is on the rise.
Recent JPMorgan Chase research shows that retail investors have out-purchased institutional players even with all the institutional inflow into the Bitcoin market. In the first quarter of 2021, JPMorgan used data from PayPal and Square to conclude that retailers bought 187,000 BTC while institutions purchased 173,000 BTC. Also, many members of the Bitcoin community believe that the Coinbase listing will do wonders for the Bitcoin price in the near future.
Tolu is a cryptocurrency and blockchain enthusiast based in Lagos. He likes to demystify crypto stories to the bare basics so that anyone anywhere can understand without too much background knowledge.
When he’s not neck-deep in crypto stories, Tolu enjoys music, loves to sing and is an avid movie lover.
