Coinbase CEO conducts IPO to prove Godwin Emefiele, CBN, others wrong

For Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and those that still doubt the credibility of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, Coinbase initial public offering on Nasdaq is your answer.

The cryptocurrency trading platform listed on the second-largest stock exchange in the world, became a $86 billion company due to investors high interest in Coinbase.

Following its debut as the first major cryptocurrency company listed on a capital market, Coinbase share value started at $381 per share, surpassing Nasdaq’s expectation price of $250 a share.

This was a 52 percent increase when compared to Nasdaq reference price. Although, the share price later closed trading with $328.28, but not before trading as low as $310 and high as $429.

Coinbase surpassing price projection at the beginning of trade and closing above the reference price shows the level of confidence investors have in cryptocurrency market.

At $86 billion market valuation, Coinbase value since going public is 10 times more than its last valuation as a private company. This feat proves critics of the digital assets wrong.

Many countries, including the Nigerian government, have used their Central Bank to gradually kill off cryptocurrency market due to their fears of the risk embedded in bitcoin and other cryptos.

In Nigeria, the Central Bank’s governor, Godwin Emefiele, has continuously bad mouthed cryptocurrency, stating that the digital asset is used for criminal activities like funding terrorism.

Despite this opposition from Emefiele, cryptocurrency, led by bitcoin, is gradually becoming a global currency for transaction and store of currency value. This was reflected in the acceptance of Coinbase on Nasdaq.

However, in Nigeria, citizens have been warned against transacting in crypto, with Emefiele informing banks to shutdown accounts of cryptocurrency exchanges and stop dealing with any account with links to the digital asset.

In his comment to the public amid the listing, Brian Armstrong, co-founder and chief executive officer of Coinbase, said his company will ensure economic freedom globally as everyone deserves access to financial services that can help them build a better life for themselves and their families.

“Coinbase has an ambitious mission: to increase economic freedom in the world… We have a lot of hard work to do to make this vision a reality.” Armstrong said in his company blog.

“We’ve had a number of ups and downs on our way here. Through luck and skill, Coinbase succeeded where many predicted it would fail. We weathered the ups and downs through innovation and keeping our eye on the long term.

“And along the way, we made cryptocurrency easier to use, introducing millions of people to this new technology. I’m proud of what we have accomplished so far. But we certainly didn’t do all this work just for one day.

“Today’s listing is a milestone, but it’s not as important as every new day in front of us…. We have a lot of hard work to do to make this a reality.” Armstrong wrote in his blog.