Congrats to @brian_armstrong & @coinbase on historic Direct Listing on @Nasdaq. As Mike Moritz noted, the choice of a direct listing or a traditional IPO has become a test of two attributes: courage and intelligence. Applaud Brian's courage in leading us to a modern approach.
Using their archaic non-market based pencils, bankers would have recommend the reference price for a traditional IPO. This $250 price is off 50%/$34B from actual market price. Why we continue to allow a non-market approach with intentional limits on participants is baffling.
Coinbase's founders, employees, & investors all accrue massive, real economic rewards as a result of the DL. Had they been exposed to the exploitive, archaic IPO process they would all suffer at the hands of the machine. These constituents should be thankful for DL decision.
Electronic matching of supply/demand was a breakthrough in early 1980's when first introduced into financial markets. The fact that our IPO process hasn't adopted this practice 41 years later, is a direct result of regulatory capture & systems failure. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_mat…
It's so exciting to see us move to a modern approach that matches supply/demand & IMPORTANTLY is open to all participants in the market. Not a "free giveaway" game that is limited to the elite large clients of the banks. It really is time to move forward.
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