Brian Armstrong, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Coinbase, at Consensus 2019. CoinDesk
U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is considering launching its own Initial Exchange Offering (IEO) platform, crypto media outlet CoinDesk reported.
During a panel at the Invest: Asia conference on 11 September, the Coinbase’s head of institutional sales in Asia, Kayvon Pirestani, revealed that the exchange is currently considering several capital-formation tools, one of which is an IEO platform. He stated that an IEO platform presents a “really interesting opportunity” for the exchange, further saying:
“In a nutshell, Coinbase is carefully exploring not only the IEO space but also STOs. But I can’t make any formal announcements right now.”
IEOs started emerging in late 2017 as an alternative to the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) model, the difference being that the actual fundraising is conducted by an exchange platform. The popularity of IEOs with investors is largely due to the fact that exchanges have a strict evaluation method for any project that wishes to initiate an IEO. Promising startups also benefit from an IEO, as usually the exchange handles the Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) checks.
Most of the largest exchanges already have their own IEO platforms, which use their own proprietary tokens, such as Binance’s BNB. A Coinbase IEO platform could indicate that the exchange will be issuing its own proprietary exchange token.
During his speech, Perestani confirmed that the exchange has already obtained a broker-dealer license, but that the exchange is still “digesting” the acquisition and “repurposing” the respective licenses. He also said that plans for a potential Coinbase IEO platform could emerge in the “next few months”.