Popular cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has reportedly chosen to stage its highly anticipated direct placement on Nasdaq instead of the New York Stock Exchange.

According to a recent publication by an online crypto news platform, TheBlock, sources familiar with the situation confirmed that the crypto exchange prefers to work with Nasdaq for its direct listing. This is a surprise since Coinbase has a working relationship with the NYSE.

The New York Stock Exchange had completed a minority investment in Coinbase way back in 2015 and would have felt the company would invariably work with them. It is unclear why it would choose to forgo a listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), which is known more for investing in quick-growth unicorns.

Direct listing allows a company to offer its shares to the public without having to raise new capital. This way investors can easily get their hands on the shares without having to wait for a standard IPO which usually takes time and is generally uneconomical.

With the SEC offering other means for companies to go public through a direct listing, 2021 is seeing a lot of them choosing this route. Popular tech firms like Spotify and Slack tapped into the global financial markets via a direct listing.

Coinbase is also reportedly working with Nasdaq Private Market as a secondary market for its shares allowing pre-IPO shareholders, like employees, with vested equity to trade in the market before its official listing.

An unnamed source told The Block that Coinbase’s stock price was trading at $200/share on the Nasdaq Private Market, putting the company’s valuation at $50 billion with 254 million shares still up for grabs.

However, this figure shows a decline from Coinbase’s stock price which traded at $277/share on popular exchange FTX, giving the company a $70 billion valuation.

The valuation numbers are much better than previous estimates from New York-based research firm Messari.

Following Coinbase’s announcement that it had filed a Form S-1 with the SEC, many were keen to know what an IPO could fetch the firm in valuations. In its report, Messari pegged the exchange’s value at $28 billion.

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