Martin Vander Weyer Martin Vander Weyer

Crypto is a virtual Vegas whose towers must fall

iStock 
issue 24 April 2021

What should we make of the valuation of Coinbase, the cryptocurrency exchange listed on Nasdaq last week at $80 billion — three times the market value of Nasdaq itself? Coinbase’s stratospheric debut is clearly a reflection of the mania for bitcoin, currently trading at five times its price of six months ago. And that spike has in turn generated short-term profits for Coinbase, making it an attractive rarity among tech flotations that more often come to market long before they reach profit, which some never do.

But is there a deeper message? Some say this is crypto’s coming of age, coinciding as it does with Rishi Sunak’s announcement of a Treasury-Bank of England taskforce to explore potential for a ‘central bank digital currency’ harnessing crypto-technology. Akin to that, some crypto-maniacs deride Coinbase as a sell-out to the mainstream: an exchange that operates within Wall Street’s regulatory framework rather than shunning state-led financial systems in the libertarian spirit of bitcoin’s founding legend.

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