Coinbase listing points to growth in crypto
The listing of cryptocurrency platform Coinbase on the Nasdaq is an indication of how cryptocurrency is becoming a mainstream offering, according to BTC Markets.
The firm, which had 56 million verified users, had a market cap of around US$90 billion ($116.5 billion) which made it one of the largest publicly-traded US companies.
Caroline Bowler, chief executive of Bitcoin exchange BTC Markets, said retail investors were “intruiged” by cryptocurrency and emerging digital asset classes. The price of one Bitcoin had now reached $81,000, up from $10,000 a year ago.
Her firm had seen a 40% increase in account openings from the first half to the second half of 2020. This was particularly the case for investors under 30 who now made up nearly half of the firm’s clients.
"Coinbase’s listing is an industry first, but it certainly won’t be the last. It’s only a matter of time until the ASX does something similar,” Bowler said.
“Australia is at a tipping point where digital asset exchanges such as ours are proactively calling for regulatory oversight of the domestic digital assets market so that we can follow our overseas counterparts in the US, UK, Europe, Hong Kong, and Singapore who have successfully pulled ahead in regulating their cryptocurrency markets.”
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
Recommended for you
The former CEO and co-founder of Zenith Investment Partners has switched sides and moved in-house to take up an executive role at a listed fund manager.
The “experiment” away from vertical integration has been a mistake, according to Clime’s Michael Baragwanath, and Clime is positioning to benefit via advice and fund manager acquisitions.
JP Morgan Asset Management has identified Australia as an “emerging growth market” as it seeks to double its assets under management in the Asia-Pacific region in the next five years.
Australian Ethical funds under management were $14.3 billion at the end of September, with its investment division seeing inflows return after outflows in the previous quarter.
