Coinbase, the largest U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange, will have to delay a planned public listing to April, Bloomberg reported.
The exchange had planned to offer its shares this month in a direct listing, an offering method that does away with some of the costs and restrictions of an initial public offering. But the plan has “slipped” according to unnamed sources with knowledge of the matter who spoke to Bloomberg.
Existing Coinbase investors registered 114.9 million shares for trading last week. These include major venture firms Andreessen Horowitz and Union Square Ventures, and co-founders Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam. The registration allows them to begin trading shares once the direct listing process is complete.
The exchange is currently being scrutinized by the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to Bloomberg.
Coinbase is expected to list at a value of $100 billion or more, which would make it the largest market debut by a U.S. technology firm since Facebook. Recent trading of its shares on private secondary markets already put it at $90 billion. The company carried an implied value of $77 billion in trading on the private secondary market last month.
The SEC isn’t the only regulator taking a close look at Coinbase’s activities. The exchange settled a $6.5 million fine with the commodities trading regulator last week over allegations that it recorded trades in a misleading way several years ago.
The U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission alleged that Coinbase “recklessly delivered false, misleading or inaccurate reports” over trades that happened on the company’s GDAX platform from 2015 to 2018.
The regulator said Coinbase ran software that “self-traded,” or bought and sold internally, leading to inflated volume and price figures. The two software programs responsible were called Hedger and Replicator.
As the self-trading took place, an employee was said to have performed a similar activity, placing buy and sell orders on the price of Litecoin to create the impression of a higher price and volume.
The trading pattern, known as “wash trading,” is said to have taken place in 2016.
As part of the settlement, Coinbase didn’t admit to or deny the CFTC’s allegations. The activities alleged by the CFTC no longer take place.
The commodities regulator continues to look into other incidents at Coinbase, according to the firm’s listing paperwork.