Coinbase is all set to be traded on the Nasdaq beginning on April 14, and while the time for average Joes and Janes to invest in one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges has finally come, it appears many high-ranking financial players had an opportunity to invest in the digital platform during its early days. Sadly, some – such as Chamath Palihapitiya – did not take advantage of the circumstances when they were available.
Coinbase Is the Envy of the Crypto World
Billionaire investor and Virgin Galactic chairman Palihapitiya said in a series of tweets recently that he had the chance to invest in the cryptocurrency exchange many years ago. While he had an opportunity to purchase part of the company when it was seeking early funds, he passed on this given that he felt it was much more important and appropriate to own bitcoin directly. He thus turned away from owning part of Coinbase and chose to purchase units of BTC, a decision he now feels was wrong.
Today, Coinbase is valued at nearly $70 billion according to its own statements and has launched several successful businesses either through branching out or investing in early startups. The company is considered one of the largest and most important to ever stem from the crypto industry, and it appears the firm is now about to get even bigger thanks to its public listing set to occur within the next week. Either way, to have been an early investor in the platform would have done us all some good.
Palihapitiya tried to explain his logic, stating:
My logic was that there was better convexity in bitcoin itself.
To this day, the billionaire has not rejected his bitcoin or sold it, and he still recommends owning units of the world’s number one digital currency by market cap, though he agrees that owning stock in bitcoin-based companies would likely to do investors some good as well, and he recommends owning both digital currency and stock in firms that delve in it. He says:
The right decision then was to invest in neither or to invest in both.
His next message was sent directly to Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. It read:
Congrats and good luck. You’ve built a monster.
A Growing Platform
While Coinbase is not the largest crypto trading platform on the planet (Binance has earned that position), it certainly comes close. The company reported a total revenue of approximately $1.8 billion for the first quarter of 2021, making the last three months some of the most profitable the firm has ever seen.
In addition, the company has formed a solid “cryptocurrency bond” with several leading financial firms including Fidelity, Paradigm and Jack Dorsey’s Square, an enterprise that has made a serious name for itself over the past several months thanks to its $170 million purchase of BTC.
