With the UK eagerly watching on, a strong debut could act as a springboard for adoption on an international scale.
London-based cryptocurrency company Blockchain.com has reportedly begun interviewing banks ahead of a potential IPO to be launched in the United States. Despite opting for a US listing, it is hoped that the company can lay down a gauntlet for the UK as a place for crypto firms to succeed.
Furthermore, the floatation of the company may take place this year, or by 2023 at the latest, according to Bloomberg reports.
Should the initial public offering take place, it will be the first of its kind for a cryptocurrency exchange, after major global exchange, Coinbase, opted for a direct listing on NASDAQ in April 2021 at a valuation of almost $100 billion.
However, Blockchain.com isn’t the only exchange with sights set on going public over the coming months. Binance.US, the US branch of market leader Binance recently expressed its intentions to launch an IPO.
Having operated for over a decade, Blockchain.com is an elder statesman of the fledgling cryptocurrency world, and the platform allows users to buy and hold coins in blockchain wallets.
Blockchain.com stands as one of Britain’s leading cryptocurrency firms. The United Kingdom’s government has recently ramped up its positive sentiment towards digital currencies as a means of securing more growth in the wake of Brexit.
The UK’s relationship with crypto is such that former Prime Minister David Cameron opened Blockchain.com’s office in 2022, saying: “It’s great to be at the start of a revolution here in London, I hope you keep this revolution going.”
UK Pins Hopes on Crypto to Drive Growth
UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, unveiled plans to turn the country into what he terms as a ‘global hub’ for cryptocurrencies.
These bold intentions have been confirmed by the Treasury, which is set to recognize stablecoins – assets that peg their value to real-world commodities or currencies – as a valid form of currency.
It’s also been announced that the government will look at how the UK tax system can be adapted to encourage the development of a crypto asset market domestically.
“It is my ambition to make the UK a global hub for crypto asset technology, and the measures we’ve outlined today will help to ensure firms can invest, innovate and scale up in this country,” said Sunak.
Significantly, Sunak stated that embracing cryptocurrencies will help to ensure that the UK’s financial services industry is “always at the forefront of technology and innovation.”
To further illustrate the extent of the UK’s eagerness to embrace cryptocurrency, Sunak is also set to launch an NFT through the Royal Mint as a means of embracing other aspects of the crypto industry.
Despite opting to list in the US off the back of a marketing offensive that has targeted American football, Blockchain.com’s listing will undoubtedly come as a major boost to the UK’s drive to position itself at the forefront of the crypto ecosystem.
Measuring What Blockchain.com’s Listing will Look Like against Coinbase
Blockchain.com will have undoubtedly kept an eye on the performance of Coinbase whilst mulling over its 2022 IPO.
As a global cryptocurrency market leader, Coinbase’s IPO was heralded as a watershed moment throughout the industry, and its $100 billion valuation on arrival highlighted the level of ambition throughout the world of crypto.
However, as the company’s performance shows, the stock has struggled severely to build momentum as the wider crypto market experienced multiple downturns. Unfortunately for Coinbase, its listing came at the time of an all-time high market value for Bitcoin – one that the cryptocurrency has struggled to hold in light of record-breaking inflation and regulatory issues.
Maxim Manturov, head of investment advice at Freedom Finance Europe suggests that “Blockchain.com is a pioneer in the world of crypto exchanges. The platform was founded two years after the first cryptocurrency – in 2011. Blockchain.com covers over 200 countries, with 37 million users of the platform opening 82 million wallets. Every third bitcoin network transaction is made through Blockchain.com, and more than a trillion dollars worth of cryptocurrency transactions have been processed. Nevertheless, this company’s entry will not be the most striking event of its kind.”
This may mean that Blockchain.com’s prospective listing will come at an opportune time for the cryptocurrency market. As Coinbase has shown, the company’s share price has heavily traced the total market capitalisation of the cryptocurrency market as a whole.
This indicates that a turnaround in fortunes could lead to a strong stock market performance for cryptocurrency exchanges listed on the stock market.
With a current valuation of around $14 billion following a Series D fundraising round, Blockchain.com may not be quite the size of Coinbase, but a timely listing could be an excellent platform for growth for the company. With the UK eagerly watching on, a strong debut could act as a springboard for adoption on an international scale.
Dmytro Spilka is a CEO at Solvid and founder of Pridicto, a web analytics startup that uses AI and Machine Learning to forecast web traffic, monitor vital metrics and set visual traffic aims. His work has been featured in various publications, including Tech Radar, Entrepreneur, Huff Post, The Next Web and ReadWrite.