Coinbase has scored a “major big time hire” ahead of its long-anticipated public listing.
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Brett Redfearn, a former director at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, will now spearhead the exchange’s capital-markets division.
Redfearn, the director of the SEC’s division of trading and markets, has been picked to guide Coinbase’s capital-markets group, which includes its exchange operations and a brokerage and custody business.
The Coinbase Valuation
Coinbase, is considered the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange with more than 43 million verified users. Coinbase’s valuation hit nearly $68 billion in first quarter based on its weighted average share price of $343.58 That’s up from $28.83 in third quarter, implying a $5.3 billion valuation during that period.
This leads to the rumor that the Karken Exchange could be next.
Fueling The Karken
Could the Karken Exchange be next?
Kraken, which refers to the mythical sea creature that terrorizes sailors, was founded in 2011. Kraken is a cryptocurrency exchange and one of the oldest Bitcoin exchanges in the world. Its customers can trade more than 50 digital assets and seven fiat currencies, including EUR, USD, CAD, GBP, JPY, CHF and AUD. More than 6 million traders, institutions and authorities use Kraken.
The San Francisco company employs about 1,700 people. Karken processed more than $116.4 billion in trading volume during January and February, 15% more than its entire volume in 2020.
The Coinabse Waiting Game:
First, Coinbase was to make its SEC filing public in late February, revealing details about its financial situation. Then Coinbase’s public listing was reportedly slated to happen this month, but has since been postponed.
It is yet to be approved by the SEC
