Coinbase Nearly Hit a $100 Billion Valuation, Making It More Valuable Than GM, Twitter and FedEx Coinbase's initial market cap hit $85.8 billion this week, making it more valuable than some of the biggest American companies.

By Justin Chan Edited by Jessica Thomas

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase had a strong debut on Nasdaq on Wednesday, closing at $328.28 per share, according to CNBC.

Shares initially opened at $381 and went up to as much as $429.54 before dipping below their original price. Still, Coinbase's strong showing was reflected in its initial market cap of $85.8 billion, making the cryptocurrency exchange more valuable than General Motors ($84 billion), FedEx ($76 billion) and Twitter ($56 billion).

Related: Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) IPO: 3 Things for Investors to Know

Founded in 2012 to facilitate cryptocurrency transactions, Coinbase filed for a listing on Feb. 25. The SEC gave the exchange approval earlier this month to list its Class A common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market yesterday, which happened to be the day after Bitcoin hit an all-time high of approximately $63,000.

CNBC reports that Coinbase now has 56 million users — a jump from the 43 million users it had last year. That, in turn, has translated into a record amount of revenue for the company. Last week, Coinbase announced its preliminary first-quarter results and estimated that its revenue during that period had increased nine-fold to approximately $1.8 billion.

According to Business Insider, the cryptocurrency exchange is also currently worth more than twice as much as Chipotle ($43 billion), eBay ($43 billion) and Hilton ($35 billion). But, at lease one billionaire investor isn't buying into the hype for now.

"In the next week, certainly we could have some volatility because of the excitement around Coinbase," former Goldman Sachs partner and crypto investor Mike Novogratz said recently at a virtual event hosted by MarketWatch and Barron's.

"I've seen a lot of weird coins like dogecoin and even XRP have huge retail spikes, which means there's a lot of frenzy right now," the investor added. "That never ends well, and so we'll probably have a washout [of the broader market] at one point."

Justin Chan

Entrepreneur Staff

News Writer

Justin Chan is a news writer at Entrepreneur.com. Previously, he was a trending news editor at Verizon Media, where he covered entrepreneurship, lifestyle, pop culture, and tech. He was also an assistant web editor at Architectural Record, where he wrote on architecture, travel, and design. Chan has additionally written for Forbes, Reader's Digest, Time Out New YorkHuffPost, Complex, and Mic. He is a 2013 graduate of Columbia Journalism School, where he studied magazine journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @jchan1109.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Business News

JPMorgan Shuts Down Internal Message Board Comments After Employees React to Return-to-Office Mandate

Employees were given the option to leave comments about the RTO mandate with their first and last names on display — and they did not hold back.

Innovation

4 Ways Market Leaders Use Innovation to Foster Business Growth

Forward-thinkers constantly strive to diversify and streamline their products and services, turning novelties into commodities desired by many.

Business Ideas

70 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2025

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2025.

Business News

Your Old Apple AirPods Can Soon Act as an Over-the-Counter Hearing Aid, According to the FDA

The new software is compatible with the Apple AirPods Pro and accessible through iOS — for free and now FDA-authorized.

Growing a Business

5 Risk-Taking Lessons From Founders Who Bet Big and Won

Discover the bold moves and strategic risks that catapulted these entrepreneurs to success. Learn how their fearless decisions can inspire your own path to growth.

Business News

'More Soul-Crushing Than Ever': Popular Hiring Platform Finds Around 20% of Its Postings Were 'Ghost Jobs'

Is that job listing too good to be true? There's a one-in-five chance that it might be.