Fenwick Represents Coinbase, the First Major Crypto Company to Go Public, in Its Direct Listing on Nasdaq

Fenwick represented Coinbase Global, Inc., a leading provider of end-to-end financial infrastructure and technology for the cryptoeconomy, in its pioneering direct listing on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. Coinbase is the first major crypto company to go public and the first technology company to go public through a direct listing on Nasdaq.

Coinbase’s Class A common stock began trading on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol COIN on April 14, 2021. At the open of trading, Coinbase was valued at approximately $100 billion, the second largest valuation for a technology company at the time of going public.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Allen & Company LLC and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. acted as financial advisors to Coinbase. More information can be obtained from the Coinbase announcement.

Fenwick has served as primary outside counsel to Coinbase for many years, representing the company in more than 15 acquisitions, including its strategic acquisitions of Bison Trails, Earn.com and Tagomi, its $100 million Series D and $300 million Series E financings and more than 70 investments by Coinbase Ventures.

The Fenwick transaction team included corporate partners Mark Stevens, Michael Brown, Ran Ben-Tzur and Faisal Rashid and associates Jennifer Hitchcock, Jordan Roberts, Can Sun, Annie Omata, Jacob Wittman, Sloka Tankala and Peter Li; executive compensation and employee benefits partners Shawn Lampron and Marshall Mort and associate Corinne Nhaissi; technology transactions associate Igor Voloshin; and tax partner Will Skinner and counsel Ora Grinberg.