Coinbase has approached Goldman Sachs to drive its future initial public offering – a move that could support the attractiveness of cryptocurrencies to a wider audience.
Citing two sources familiar with the matter, Business Insider reported on Friday that Coinbase is looking to Goldman Sachs to handle its public filing. No further details were provided.
Coinbase has been linked to Goldman Sachs for years through Fred Ehrsam, the co-founder of the stock exchange who previously worked at the bank as a trader. Business Insider reports that Ehrsam worked at Goldman between 2010 and 2012 before giving up Coinbase with current CEO Brian Armstrong.
Ehrsam left the stock exchange in 2017, but maintains a position on the board.
The report came a day after Coinbase confirmed its intention to go public in a draft registration sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission or SEC. Based on its latest valuation in 2018, Coinbase is worth $ 8 billion. Cryptographic analysis company Messari says Coinbase could be valued at $ 28 billion after its public offering.
Coinbase is the favorite exchange of many newcomers in the digital currency space. The platform has also accumulated billions of dollars in institutional capital since the spring, which largely coincides with the arrival of so-called smart money.
Institutional investors have probably been the main catalyst behind Bitcoin’s record rally (BTC) so far. The iconic currency cryptocurrency catapulted to $ 24,000 on Thursday, on its way to new highs.
With cryptographic valuations rising to the highest levels since early 2018, Coinbase is launching its IPO at an opportune time in the market evolution. Rumors of a Coinbase public offering have been circulating for some time, although plans were never formalized until this week.
Like other financial institutions, Goldman Sachs is much more open to the idea of cryptocurrencies than it was a few years ago. The company has recently appointed a global head of digital assets and plans to use the JPMorgan blockchain for overnight repo deals.
On Friday, the investment bank told clients that Bitcoin and gold can coexist in the same macro hedging strategy. Although the bank said that the popularity of Bitcoin is not an “existential threat to the status of gold as a currency of last resort”, it acknowledged that “there is a replacement”.