Coinbase Global Inc. achieved a $ 85 billion valuation on Wednesday in its stock market debut, a watershed moment for an industry that began a decade ago as an experiment in digital money.
Shares of Coinbase, the first major bitcoin-focused company to test the U.S. public market, opened at $ 381 on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. They rose to $ 429.54 in the first few minutes of trading and ended the session at $ 328.28. Coinbase offered a direct listing under the symbol COIN.
The exchange set a reference price of $ 250 on Tuesday, but no transactions were made on the price. While Coinbase was last valued at around $ 8 billion in a 2018 fundraising round, some analysts predicted that its valuation could reach $ 100 billion, based on private market trading. It surpassed that level on Wednesday before retreating.
Investors should move with the whip saw as an indication of how this stock may trade, said Daniel Ives, analyst at Wedbush Securities.
“It’s going to be a roller coaster,” he said, adding that there will be many investors in and out of the shares. “At the moment, the street is still trying to place goal posts around the valuation,” said Mr. Ives said.