It’s been a huge year for cryptocurrencies, but nothing’s been as validating as the April 14 direct listing of Coinbase, which operates an exchange where 56 million users buy and sell Bitcoin and more. Coinbase ended its first day of trading worth nearly $86 billion—making it the most valuable U.S. financial exchange, and giving cryptocurrencies a boost of Wall Street cred. For the moment, Coinbase is riding the high of surging interest in all things even remotely crypto-adjacent, but its value may come tumbling back to earth should crypto turn out to be a bubble.
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