Coinbase Teases $8B Valuation With Latest Acquisition

Coinbase valued itself at about $8 billion during a recent acquisition deal that included its common shares.

According to Recode, that estimate is much higher than its last preferred valuation. Coinbase declined to comment on the report.

Sources say that the digital currency exchange offered its stock at around that price when presenting an equity package to Earn.com investors. Coinbase acquired Earn, a paid messaging service, for over $100 million in early April.

Instead, Earn’s investors asked for and received cash, but the company’s management took some Coinbase stock. Earn’s investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Data Collective, and Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss.

Coinbase was valued by venture capitalists at around $1.6 billion last summer. However, that was before a surge of interest in retail cryptocurrency trading, as well as bitcoin’s dramatic rise and decline in late 2017 and early 2018.

Sources have also reported that brokers have approached Coinbase investors in recent weeks to buy existing shares at a valuation ranging from about $4.5 billion to $6 billion.

In the meantime, Coinbase continues to make moves. Earlier this month, the company acquired Cipher Browser to boost its decentralized mobile browser and Ethereum wallet.

In addition, Coinbase started a new incubator fund called Coinbase Ventures to give cryptocurrency startups and their founders a boost. While the exchange expects the fund’s profits to be small compared to those of its overall business, the fund already has $15 million and is expected to grow.

Coinbase Ventures is designed to help launch firms and aid founders in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industries.

“You may also see us invest in companies that ostensibly look competitive with Coinbase,” the company wrote in a blog post. “There may be nuance to the way these startups are building out their products. Or, in some cases, we may be comfortable investing in companies that are potentially competitive, because it’s in everyone’s interest to see the ecosystem innovate.”