Coinbase’s direct listing is said to be pushed back in April

Photographer: Tiffany Hagler-Geard / Bloomberg

Coinbase Global Inc., the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, is now aiming at will go public in April after its plans for a direct listing this month dropped, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because it was private.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has revised the company’s plans for a direct listing, an alternative to a traditional initial public offering.

A Coinbase representative declined to comment.

This week, Coinbase supporters have registered to trade up to 114.9 million shares when listing shares. In a direct listing, investors can start selling their holdings as soon as a company starts trading, rather than waiting for a lockout period to expire – usually up to six months in an IPO.

Investment firms, including Andreessen and Horowitz Union Square Ventures is among those whose shares could be traded, according to a regulatory filing on Wednesday. CEO Brian Armstrong and Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam also registered shares.

Coinbase shares have changed from $ 200 to $ 375.01 in private transactions this year, the file said. The volume-weighted average share price for transactions from January to March 15 was $ 343.58, which would give Coinbase a public market valuation of approximately $ 67.6 billion, based on the total number of shares outstanding. from Monday. The fully diluted amount – including employee incentive plans and restricted stock units – would be significantly higher.

Read more: Coinbase is said to be valued at a $ 90 billion private auction

The debut will be the first major direct list to take place on the Nasdaq. All of these previous listings were on the New York Stock Exchange, including those from Spotify Technology SA, Slack Technologies Inc., Asana Inc., Palantir Technologies Inc. and Roblox Corp., which were listed this month.

Coinbase’s latest financial statements have revealed that the company is making money, differentiating it from many other startups when it makes its public debut. Coinbase went from a loss to a profit of $ 322 million last year on net income that doubled to $ 1.14 billion.