With Bitcoin soaring to new record highs and institutional interest accelerating, the world’s best known cryptocurrency exchange – Coinbase Global – has announced that it has begun the process for an IPO.
San Francisco-based Coinbase Global said it has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Interestingly, CEO Brian Armstrong penned a ‘caveat emptor’-style blog yesterday entitled: “A message from Coinbase about crypto market rallies”
Like all asset classes, crypto markets will rise and fall over time. And, as we witnessed in 2017, we’ll occasionally see strong market rallies where prices will rise quickly and aggressively. While we’re always excited to see increased interest in crypto, it’s also important to point out that this is not only a time of high volumes, but also price volatility.
We believe that crypto is a truly game-changing innovation and, at Coinbase, we take a long-term view of the market. While it’s great to see market rallies and see news organizations turn attention to this emerging asset class in a new way, we cannot emphasize enough how important it is to understand that investing in crypto is not without risk. For one, crypto can be a volatile asset class — often more so than the types of traditional financial instruments that most investors are used to. For example, this means that the market can move in either direction much faster than equity markets. And while we offer a full range of trading tools for traders to take advantage of market conditions, we likewise caution investors who may be focusing on short-term speculation and encourage customers to seek out resources and consult financial advisors to better understand the risks associated with investing in cryptocurrencies. For those who believe in the potential of crypto, we also all have to believe that we’re still in the very early stages and that there’s a lot more to come.
At Coinbase, we’re committed to bringing the potential of crypto to everyone. As part of this commitment, we will always strive to provide our customers with the highest levels of security, trust and transparency. During periods of extreme demand – like those we’re witnessing right now as a result of the current market rally – we work tirelessly to deliver on this promise. Although we may occasionally fall short, we will always do our best to address our shortcomings and transparently communicate any information that our customers need to confidently manage their accounts and make informed trading decisions.
