Coinbase's Debut 'Watershed Moment For Entire Crypto Industry - CoinGecko Co-Founder

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th April, 2021) The trading debut of Coinbase, a major US cryptocurrency exchange platform, is "a watershed moment" for the entire crypto industry which will push it forward, Bobby Ong, a bitcoin expert and a co-founder and a COO of CoinGecko, one of the world's leading cryptocurrencies data aggregators, told Sputnik, adding that he expects more crypto companies to follow the suit.

This week, all eyes are on Coinbase which went public on the Nasdaq Stock Market exchange via a direct stock listing. The platform was briefly valued at $100 billion in its Nasdaq debut on Wednesday, which is a breakthrough for the industry. Brian Armstrong, the company's co-founder and CEO, whose fortune exploded following the listing, admitted that the event was indeed a "milestone." Speaking on this week's success, he vowed that his company's ambitious mission is "to increase economic freedom in the world."

"Coinbase's IPO [Initial Public Offering] is a watershed moment for the entire crypto industry and this will only serve to propel the industry forward. Moving forward, I expect more crypto companies to follow suit and go public as well either via IPO or via a merger with a SPAC [Special Purpose Acquisition Company]," Ong said, commenting on the company's success.

Ong believes that now institutional investors will "have their eyes open" on the possibilities of the crypto industry and see huge revenues which Coinbase is making now.

"They will be asking what other crypto companies are there in the market that can be invested in," he suggested.

Speaking about the possible regulations of cryptocurrencies, Ong noted that the crypto industry is highly sensitive to rules changes by governments.

"The players in the crypto industry are all hoping that governments worldwide will take a progressive stance on cryptocurrency regulation to support growth in this industry," he explained.

When asked about the dependence of Coinbase on the value of cryptocurrencies, Ong replied that in general, in "an upward bull market" like today, cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinbase are likely to experience high user growth and thereby driving trading fee revenue.

"However, the cryptocurrency market is highly volatile and it is common for crypto prices to experience multi-year declines after a bullish year. A bearish cycle will usually lead to traders leaving the market and this will lead to lower trading fee revenue," he said.

Coinbase which was set up in 2012, has soared in value in the past year alongside bitcoin and ethereum, which account for most of the volume on the site. The company says that it currently has 56 million users and 115,000 ecosystem partners in over 100 countries worldwide.