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Coinbase opened initial public offering access to eligible retail customers in the United States. The service allows users to request shares at the IPO price before public trading begins. Smart-ring maker Oura will be the first company offered through the new feature.
The product expands Coinbase beyond cryptocurrency trading and supports its plan to build an ‘Everything Exchange.’ However, Coinbase has not confirmed that its users will receive allocations in a future Anthropic IPO.
Coinbase announced the IPO service on September 21. Eligible customers can access active offerings through a new section in the Coinbase app. They must fund their accounts before requesting the number of shares they want.
Customers can submit a ‘Conditional Offer to Buy’ after the company publishes an expected price range. They can cancel or revise the request while the order book remains open. However, submitting a request does not guarantee an allocation. Available shares will depend on customer demand and the amount supplied to Coinbase.
“This new feature is yet another step toward growing the Everything Exchange, as our US customers now gain early exposure to high-interest companies before they hit public exchanges,” Coinbase said.
Oura plans to list its common stock on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker OURA. Its amended registration statement shows an expected IPO price of between USD 40 and USD 44 per share.
The offering covers 50 million shares. Oura will sell 13.5 million new shares, while existing shareholders will offer another 36.5 million shares. Therefore, the 50 million figure refers to the total IPO size, not the number of authorized shares. Underwriters may also buy as many as 7.5 million additional shares from selling shareholders.
Once the order book closes, Coinbase will allocate the shares through its internal method. A customer may receive the full requested amount, a smaller allocation, or no shares. Allocated stock will enter the customer’s account at the final IPO price and become tradable when public trading starts.
Coinbase said its allocation system will favor customers who appear willing to hold their shares. A customer who sells allocated stock within 30 days may lose access to new IPO offerings for the next 60 days.
Repeated sales within this period could also lead to smaller or less frequent allocations. The exchange introduced these rules to limit short-term flipping and distribute shares to longer-term investors. The crypto exchange has not disclosed every factor used by its allocation system.
Coinbase Capital Markets will operate the service as a FINRA-registered broker-dealer. It will aggregate customer orders and route them through Apex Clearing Corporation. The broker will act as an agent and will not underwrite an offering, hold shares in inventory, or trade against customers. Users must also complete a standard FINRA eligibility questionnaire.
The launch comes as investors monitor reports about a possible Anthropic public offering. Still, Coinbase has not named Anthropic as an upcoming deal or confirmed that its customers will receive shares in any future listing.
Coinbase said it plans to add more IPOs when selling-group allocations become available. Oura remains the only confirmed offering at launch.
Meanwhile, COIN shares rose during the session as cryptocurrency prices and related stocks also gained. The stock movement coincided with Bitcoin reaching an eight-month high near USD 85,000.
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