Some crypto fans see last year’s Coinbase stock IPO as  yet another example of the digital currency becoming increasingly legitimized. But does that make it a worthwhile investment? Well, that depends…

Coinbase stock is coming to the Nasdaq.

Initial public offerings (IPOs) had a great run last year. And as Andy Snyder – the Founder of Manward Press – predicted, 2021 is really was  the year of crypto. Bitcoin’s value doubled. And the second-largest crypto, Ethereum, did even better. Meanwhile, some altcoins saw even wilder upsurges in value.

Whether you want to give the Coinbase stock listing credit or not, all of this exuberance led to some big events in the crypto space. Morgan Stanley started offering crypto access to its wealthy clients that were suffering from FOMO. The Treasury Department is still working on a digital dollar of its own. And PayPal started allowing its customers to use cryptocurrencies like actual currency. (How novel!) So one of the biggest digital exchanges hitting Wall Street was far from a surprise.

Nonetheless, it does beg the question: Why didn’t the Coinbase stock just get listed on its own exchange?

Well, as Andy Snyder puts it, there are a couple of good reasons…

The first is due to regulations. In a statement, Coinbase said that this is uncharted territory. And the SEC wasn’t sure how to handle an exchange that wants to list itself on itself. While that makes some sense, it’s also a little ironic for this pioneer operating in a land that eschews regulations.

Another big reason Andy says that Coinbase doesn’t list its stock on its own exchange is technological boundaries. Let’s unpack that one a little more…

Why You Won’t Find Coinbase Stock on Coinbase

Coinbase created a digital exchange out of virtual thin air. And it’s a darn good one at that. You can check out our Coinbase review. If the company wanted to figure out a way to list its own stock, it certainly would have had the technological know-how. But, as Andy pointed out, it would be a pricey endeavor. And quite frankly, the juice probably wouldn’t be worth the squeeze. On top of that, it would keep institutional investors out of the action.

That’s not what early investors are looking for… Releasing the Coinbase stock to the general public gave patient investors that backed the company from the beginning a chance to score big.

Coinbase wasn’t looking to raise money in order to dominate the market. If it were, it wouldn’t be going about this process with a direct listing. It would follow the traditional IPO process. But this method will gave those who backed Coinbase from the start a chance to trade their stake in the company for some cold hard cash.

When the IPO first went to market, demand was fairly high. It’s obvious some institutional and retail investors were licking their chops to get in on the action. That demand sent Coinbase shares upwards early. And those early Coinbase backers got to finally have the chance to make back their money and then some.

The Bottom Line on the Coinbase Stock

The Coinbase IPO last year brought in a lot of new investors to the crypto space. But since the downturn in the crypto markets, it’s been on a steady downward trajectory. Will it rebound? We’re pretty sure it will. But there are better and easier investment opportunities out there. Especially in the crypto markets.

For starters, we’ve got a list of the five best cryptocurrencies to invest in right here. And you can find our favorite cheap cryptocurrencies here. All you need to do is set up a Coinbase account and get started.

And if you’re looking for a simple tool to help calculate your crypto gains (and projected gains), we suggest checking out our crypto calculator right here.