Prices of cryptocurrencies surged to records Wednesday as the listing of exchange Coinbase Global Inc. propelled interest in digital assets.
Bitcoin climbed to a record of $64,829 apiece, ether traded as high as $2,398 and dogecoin—the meme cryptocurrency created as a joke—was up more than 40% at nearly 13 cents after reaching 14 cents, according to CoinDesk. The rally in dogecoin came despite Coinbase not offering trading in it.
Shares of Coinbase started trading Wednesday on the Nasdaq Global Select Market via a direct listing under the ticker symbol COIN. Shares opened at $381 and rose as high as $429.54 in the first few minutes of trading before pulling back to around $320.
The listing has drawn renewed attention to cryptocurrencies, pulling in new retail traders. This has benefited not only the most highly traded cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin and ether, but also smaller and cheaper coins.
“Everything is rallying,” said Joel Kruger, a strategist at cryptocurrency exchange LMAX Digital. “We have a combination of global macro forces that are driving risk higher. We also have a lot of swirl around the Coinbase news and that is giving the crypto market some added boost and added exposure.”