Coinbase went public last week and insiders and early investors sold about $5 billion in shares on the first trading day. The stock price started at $250 and went straight up to about $400 before it went down again to about $330.
CEO Brian Armstrong sold 749,999 shares at a price ranging from $381 to $410. According to SEC filings released on Friday, Armstrong`s total gain was $291,8 million. That is telling us that he sold about 1,5% of his stake in Coinbase.
But he was not the only one to sell shares in the company. Director and venture capitalist Frederick Wilson sold 4,70 million shares for proceeds of $1,82 billion. Wilson is a holder of at least 10% of the shares of Coinbase and that is a market cap of $63,6 billion.
Another 10% owner of Coinbase shares is Union Square Partners, and they sold $4,70 million shares for proceeds of $1,82 billion. Wilson is a partner in Union Square Partners and he and his firm`s fund accounted for more than 2/3rds of the total $5 billion worth of shares sold when Coinbase went public.
Marc Andreessen, who is a software engineer, venture capitalist and Coinbase director, is a holder of more than 10% of the exchange`s shares. He and his company Andreessen Horowitz sold a total of 1,18 million shares for $449,2 million, according to SEC.
As I pointed out in my recent article about the DPO (direct listing) last week, there is a huge difference between IPO and DPO. In this case; a direct listing is a liquidity event while an IPO is a capital-raising event.
This is why Armstrong and his team sold shares when they went public, and this is the whole point of their direct listing. The fact is that Coinbase doesn`t need money, so they are offering the public existing shares. That`s why we see where the shares is coming from.
In an IPO we see new shares being offered by the company to raise money that goes to the treasury. Coinbase doesn`t gain any proceeds with this DPO, but more holders are coming in and that will give the company the opportunity to raise more money in the future. If they need.
To contact the author: post@shinybull.com
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Shinybull.com. The author has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information provided; however, neither Shinybull.com nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in precious metal products, commodities, securities, or other financial instruments. Shinybull.com and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.
Wednesday will be a historic day. Coinbase will make stock market history as the first company specializing in cryptocurrencies to launch an initial public offering. Well, it`s not a traditional IPO but a direct listing called DPO.
This can probably be the most important IPO/DPO of 2021, and the most interesting thing about this IPO/DPO is the difference between the traditional centralized market and the decentralized cryptocurrency market.
I wrote about Bitcoin 8 years ago and the price at that time was $100 – $200, and it has been a wild ride since then. The Coinbase IPO comes at a time were Bitcoin is trading at an all-time high around $63,000.
A lot of people are very sceptical about the cryptocurrency market, but this IPO/DPO can reduce this scepticizm and make more people to invest in this market which is a great alternative currency in the future.
The company is founded in 2012 but have a valuation of around $100 billion. They have 56 million users in over 100 countries, and last week, Coinbase reported a revenue of $1,8 billion for the first quarter of 2021. In 2020 they reported revenue of $1,14 billion. Up 139% from 2019.
There is great oportunities, but Coinbase also comes with its own set of risks.
The company said in its prospectus that its revenue is «substantially dependent on the prices of crypto assets and volume of transactions conduted on our platform» and that 56% of its revenue comes from Bitcoin and Etherium transactions.
Coinbase warns that if cryptocurrency prices, demand or volume declines, its business would be severely affected. While the company has established security protocols, it also noted that there is always potential for cyber attacks or security breaches.
«We have experienced from time to time, and may experience in the future, breaches of our security measures due to human error, malfeasance, insider threats, system errors or vulnerabilities, or other irregularities,» Coinbase wrote in its prospectus.
«Unauthorized parties have attempted, and we expect that they will continue to attempt, to gain access to our system and facilities, as well as those of our customers, partners, and third-party service providers.»
In addition, Coinbase cites «significant regulatory uncertainty» as one of its major business concerns, noting that regulators around the globe have increased their scrutiny of digital currencies.
A valuation of $100 billion will make Coinbase the biggest financial exchange in the world. Its operating margin of around 55% is far from that of Wall Street banks last year.
Coinbase generated 0,46% on each dollar it traded in cryptocurrrencies for customers. Last year, ICE and Nasdaq made an average of 0,01% on each dollar of securities traded. As you can see, this is big business for Coinbase, but for how long will it last?
They`re not alone in the crytocurrecy market, and sooner or later, I believe that competitors like Binance, Gemini, Kraken or Bitstamp to name a few, will follow Coinbase and push the fees down.
The operating margins for the largest investment banks is about 23%. If Coinbase drops to that level, with a revenue growth at a strong 21%, the company will be worth $18,9 billion, according to Fortune. Keep in mind that 21% revenue growth is what Nasdaq achieved in its rapid growth phase.
Keep in mind that the Coinbase IPO media is talking about is not an IPO. It is a DPO, which is a direct listing and I don`t know why media mistakenly describe it as an IPO. The difference is that IPO shares get allocated at a pre-established price. Direct listing shares do not.
In an IPO, investment bankers set the share price as high as they think the market will pay for the shares. In an DPO, there is no pre-set price dedicated by a group of investment bankers. IPO raise new capital, but direct listings do not.
The DPO will not fill Coinbase`s pockets with cash, but it will make it more easy for them to raise capital going forward. A DPO is a liquidity event. An IPO is a capital-raising event. That`s the difference.
Therefore; an IPO is less volatile than an DPO, because large institutions and other shareholders are typically locked up in the first 6-12 months. A DPO doesn`t have that kind of lockup and can dump the shares the same day they go public.
We didn`t see unexpected volatility in Spotify and Slack when they went public in their DPO, but Palantir`s shares slumped the day the lockup expired.
Coinbase shareholders will probably wait and see how trading is going before submitting their offers, and that can affect the nubmer of shares being traded and could exacerbate price swings. But that`s exactly how it is in the crypto space right now.
Coinbase has registered 114,850,769 shares eligible for sale, but nobody knows how many shares will change hands on Wednesday. It is a direct listing and the market sets the initial price. Not a group of investment bankers in an IPO. That`s exactly how it is in the crypto space. Open and transparent.
Wednesday will be a historic day and this week will be a good week for the crypto market. Let the crypto party begin.
To contact the author: post@shinybull.com
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Shinybull.com. The author has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information provided; however, neither Shinybull.com nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in precious metal products, commodities, securities, or other financial instruments. Shinybull.com and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.
The stock market is declining while the IPO market is hotter than ever this week. At least 15 IPO deals are expected to be priced this week and this is the biggest week since 2015. What most investors are focusing on now is Uber which is the biggest U.S company deal since Facebook in 2012.
Uber is finish with its roadshow in London, Boston and San Francisco, and the company is expected to price the sale on Thursday this week. The demand for the stock is strong and investors have put in orders for at least three times the amount of stock on offer.
Uber can raise as much as $9 billion and if that happen it will be the largest this year. It`s not clear what the price for stock will be but I think that the turmoil in the market at the moment will have an impact of the price range.
Uber is offering 180 million shares for $44 and $50 and that will value the company at about $84 billion. They have $11 billion in revenue and about $50 billion in gross bookings. Like Lyft, they have big operating losses.
Last year, Uber lost $3,03 billion in the 12 months through March. This is the largest loss ever for a U.S startup in the year before an IPO, and they have a lot of challenges.
More than 82% of the revenue comes from ridesharing while 13% comes from food delivery. Uber has a deal with McDonalds and used to get a 20% commission on deliveries. McDonalds renegotiatied the deal, and now Uber gets a 15% commission.
Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi is trying to sell Wall Street his vision that Uber will become the dominant force in all forms of transportation. But the competition is intense in many places around the globe.
China have its own Didi Chuxing while India has Zomato and Swiggy for food delivery. Didi is also in Latin America where they compete with Doordash, and all of them in the food delivery business.
Uber and Lyft drivers are planning a strike from 7 am to 9 am on Wednesday to protest their wages, their treatment as independent contractors rather than employees, and the lack of regulation governing the new sector.
Drivers have challenged the ride-sharing companies many times for refusing to deem them employees, which means they are responsible for maintenance of their own vehicles as well as gas and insurance, which greatly reduces the amount they can earn per hour.
Their competitor Lyft went public in April this year and entered the market with its IPO price of $72 per share. The stock soared on their debut but it came down again as IPO`s usually does, and now the stock is trading about 16 percent below its IPO price.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Shiny bull. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Shiny bull nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in precious metal products, commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Shiny bull and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.
A lot of unicorns are coming into the market and Lyft is the next to go public. It is an on-demand transportation company primarily providing ride-haling services like Uber. The company was launched in June 2012 and operates in approximately 300 U.S cities.
Lyft is kicking off its IPO road show this month and their goal is to get on the public market in April. The valuation is about $23 billion for Lyft and thats way beyond Ubers valuation of $150 billion. Lyft will be listed on Nasdaq under the ticker LYFT:
Lyft expects to raise as much as $2,1 billion through the sale of stock in a price range between $62 and $68. Not all of their shares will be sold to the public and they will hold less than half the votes among shareholders. So far, Lyft has collected about $5 billion in total private equity investment to date.
Revenue last year came in at $2,2 billion and their growth have skyrocketed by about 500 percent since 2016. Their losses are also skyrocketing while the loss last year reached $911,3 million. Lyft lose twice as much as their competitor Uber.
The venture capitalists have so far funded the company and now it is the publics turn. And Lyft need cash now. The companys cash and cash equivalents fell 53 percent to about $518 million during the course of 2018.
Lyft is like Uber disrupting the taxi industry but also the way people move around. The taxi industry as we know it today will change dramatically. Lyft and Uber`s business model will change the way people think about a vehicle and how they move around.
Not only that. We are not far away from self-driving cars, and that will be a huge game changer. And when that day comes, what will be the difference between Lyft and Uber? On top of that; they will face a lot of competition from established automakers.
You can imagine how it will be in the market if automakers like Tesla are joining the business by selling people rides to the people instead of selling them cars? What car do you prefer on your ride?
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Shiny bull. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Shiny bull nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in precious metal products, commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Shiny bull and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.
The fourth-largest smartphone maker Xiaomi are planning to go public, and the company will start a roadshow in the U.S and Europe in a few weeks. After a collaboration with institutional investors in the U.S and Europe to value the firm at no less than $70 billion, the Chinese smartphone giant will go public in Hong Kong in July.
In my recent article I talked about Foxconn and their plans to go public a week ago, and more Chinese companies are on the way, One of them is Xiaomi, and their IPO is the biggest IPO so far in 2018 which is good for Hong Kong.
(Xiaomi`s profit is “only” $2, but their biggest market is India)
Hong Kong is on the way to be the destination of choice for global companies seeking to raise capital. Hong Kong marks the 21st anniversary of the citys return to Chinese sovereignty on July 1, and Xiaomis IPO can be a great birthday present to Hong Kong.
Xiaomi went from a start-up to surpass $16 billion in seven years, and their founder Lei Jun decided to make a smartphone brand selling handsets at “honest” prices. Eight years later, Lei Jun and the seven other co-founders have made a company that wants to challenge the global industry dominance by Apple, Samsung and Huawei.
Xiaomi are the cheapest smartphone on the market with the biggest market share in India. About 70 percent of their 2017 sales of 114,6 billion yuan came from smartpones, but there is a huge difference between Xiaomi and Apple.
Lei Juns profit from his low-budget price smartphone is "only" $2 per handset. Tim Cooks margin is between $151 and $250 on each iPhone.
Xiaomi more than doubled its overseas shipments to 27 million handsets in 2017. Its revenue skyrocketed to 32,1 billion yuan. There is no doubt that the global market is where their ambitions lie, and this is globalization at its best.
Xiaomi opened its first European sales outlet in Paris and plans to open additional Mi stores in France, Spain and Italy later this year.
Xiaomi do not only have a big potential with its smartphones but also from smart devices, better known as the Internet of Things (IoT). Industry revenue may balloon every year at a 13,3 percent compounded growth rate to $6,2 billion by 2021, according to IDC.
Their innovative products will make a tremendous change in every industry.
Xiaomis valuation can be $100 billion and it will be the biggest IPO since Alibaba in 2014. Alibabas IPO was the biggest IPO of all time with its 25 billion IPO in New York. Facebook went public in 2012 with an $16 billion IPO.
Former communist China are on the way up. This IPO will make even more rich people in China. Founder Lei Jun and his co-founders will be rich after the IPO. Not only that. 56 of the earliest employees pulled together $11 million to invest in the start-up. Today, they are the lucky 56.
Their stake in Xiaomi may soon be worth about $1 billion to $3 billion, depending on the stock sale. That works out to $36 million each at the midpoint.
Citic-CLSA, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley had been appointed to arrange Xiaomi`s stock offer.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Shiny bull. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Shiny bull nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in precious metal products, commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Shiny bull and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.
Ket Garden
Shiny bull 