Bitcoin hits new high ahead of imminent Coinbase listing

Bitcoin hit a new high of nearly US$62,857 in London on Tuesday

The imminent direct listing of crypto trading platform Coinbase Global Inc on Wednesday is likely to be watched closely by investors both inside and outside the crypto industry after Bitcoin and other cryptos hit fresh highs ahead of the debut.

In late-morning trading in London on Tuesday, the original cryptocurrency hit a new high of nearly US$62,857. By lunchtime, it had fallen back slightly but was still up 4.8% at US$62,779.

Similarly, Ether, the second-most popular crypto on the market, also reached a record high of around US$2,216 on Tuesday morning.

While the surge in Bitcoin’s value has not been linked directly to the upcoming Coinbase listing, the trend seems to indicate that many are expecting the company’s debut will prove a successful one, potentially driving even more interest in the industry sparked late last year by Bitcoin’s meteoric rise.

Coinbase allows users to buy, sell, send and exchange cryptos including Bitcoin, which was valued at around US$90bn in private share trading in early March.

Its future as a publicly traded firm was also given a boost last week when it reported that active users on its platform had surged to 6.1mln from 2.8mln in the fourth quarter of 2020, while verified users, those with Coinbase accounts, jumped to 56mln from 43mln.

Meanwhile, the firm reported that it had raked in US$1.8bn over the period as well as a net income of nearly US$730-US$800mln. The company also saw its trading volumes top US$335bn, while the total assets on its platform surged to US$223bn from US$90bn in Q4 of last year. Nearly US$122bn of those assets came from institutions, showing the firm has managed to attract professional cash into the crypto market.