Listing Coming Soon? Coinbase Sees Surge in User Numbers in First Half of the Year, Targets Institutional Investors

The research team at Coinbase released a report for the first half of 2020, indicating that the exchange added 5 million users in just the first half of the year, with a significant increase in business volume from institutional investors. Based on the various news updates this year, Coinbase is expected to deliver even more impressive results in the second half of the year.

Adding 5 Million New Users in the First Half of the Year

According to the latest 2020 first-half institutionalresearch report released by Coinbase exchange, the customer base of Coinbase has grown to over 35 million retail and institutional customers. Based on internal data from Coinbase, in addition to a significant increase in the size of retail investors in the first half of this year, the market participation rate of institutional investors has also shown a significant increase. Coinbase stated:

"At this stage, many larger, more conservative institutional investors are allocating funds to digital assets for the first time, using the trading platform established by Coinbase and choosing cryptocurrency fund managers as part of their investment strategy. We noticed a significant growth in institutional business volume in the first half of the year, with clients such as university endowments, traditional multi-strategy hedge funds, venture capital, and large family offices directly purchasing digital assets."

To further expand institutional participation in the cryptocurrency market, Coinbase stated that it will take action to enhance its related business services. For example, by providing better cross-exchange asset liquidity to its customers through the crypto market maker Tagomi, which it acquired earlier.

Furthermore, the exchange also plans to further expand its credit services based on fiat and digital assets, strengthening its business capabilities in lending and financing transactions.

Listing on the U.S. Stock Exchange Is Within Reach

This year, the United States has continuously released positive news about cryptocurrencies, making the second half of 2020 quite favorable for Coinbase, the largest exchange in the U.S. Global payment giant VISA recently announced the launch of a cryptocurrency solution, supporting cryptocurrencies to reshape payment methods. Visa stated that it is actively collaborating with licensed and regulated cryptocurrency platforms such as Coinbase to bridge the gap between cryptocurrencies and its existing global network of 61 million users. Coinbase also expressed its privilege of working with VISA on Twitter:

We’re proud to work with innovators like @Visa that are building the bridge between crypto and traditional finance. We’re excited about its vision, commitment to working with leaders in this space, and the potential to connect crypto to its global network. https://t.co/HNz3cFdD9n

— Coinbase (@coinbase) July 23, 2020

In addition, financial giant J.P. Morgan announced this year that it will provide banking services to two exchanges, Coinbase and Gemini, marking the first time that this U.S. banking giant has provided business support to cryptocurrency service providers. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) also announced this month that both banks and other federally regulated financial service institutions can provide cryptocurrency custody services to the public without the need for special authorization. As the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S., this regulation is expected to further increase the business scale of Coinbase's institutional clients.

With various positive news, it seems that Coinbase's goal of listing on the U.S. stock market is within reach.