Would Coinbase Ever Launch a COIN Token?

In brief

When Coinbase went public, it did so without the use of a token.
Sources say Coinbase found that regulators were not ready for such a novel idea.

Coinbase went public last week, meaning retail investors can now buy its stock on the Nasdaq. Meanwhile, crypto enthusiasts can also buy tokenized versions of the stock on specialty exchanges like FTX and Binance—the token is backed by actual shares of the stock.

But one thing would-be investors still can’t do is buy a tokenized version of the stock issued by Coinbase itself.

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This is a frustration for many: not only would a native Coinbase token delight crypto fans, but it would also improve liquidity, since such a token could be traded outside market hours.

The frustration is doubled by the fact that Coinbase itself has professed to be in favor of issuing tokenized shares—not just for its own stock, but for all stocks, even the likes of Walmart.

‘Be as crypto native as possible’

In a May 2020 interview, Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam told Fortune’s Jeff John Roberts, now executive editor at Decrypt, that it would be boring if Coinbase went public without doing anything blockchain-related.

“Coinbase should constantly challenge itself to be as crypto native as possible,” Ehrsam said. “If we think the future is all assets exist on the blockchain, why should this be any different?”

This failed to materialize, however, and the exchange had a smooth direct listing. Does this signify that Coinbase has concluded not everything needs to be on a blockchain after all?

Not necessarily, especially as Coinbase has dabbled in the idea of raising money through token sales before.

In September 2019, the company’s head of institutional sales Kayvon Pirestani, now COO of Coinbase Singapore, said at CoinDesk Invest that an IEO (initial exchange offering) could be a “really interesting opportunity” for Coinbase.

IEOs are an evolution of initial coin offerings (ICOs), where crypto projects would sell…

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