Coinbase, a digital exchange currency platform decides to go public through a direct listing

The digital currency exchange platform Coinbase announced on Thursday that it is planning to go public with a direct listing rather than the conventional IPO path.

The forthcoming Coinbase IPO is seen by those in the cryptocurrency community as a landmark, who claim it would help lend credibility to a market by regulators and many conventional investors with suspicion. It also marks another step in the rising integration between traditional finance and crypto finance.

The News of the Coinbase decision to seek a direct listing comes days after the firm announced it would open a secondary market enabling workers and others forum to sell private equity.

Coinbase, founded in 2012, has evolved to become the largest digital currency exchange in the U.S. and, in the wake of increased investor interest in cryptocurrencies, is entering the stock sector.

Bitcoin is trading over $32,000, up in the last year by over 260 percent.

In recent weeks, there has been talking that Coinbase might be worth as high as $75 billion, supported by a white-hot market for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

To stop diluting their current owners and turning over cheap shares to potential buyers, Coinbase is hopping on the bandwagon of businesses preferring direct listings rather than IPOs. Spotify, in 2018, was the first big tech firm to go for a direct listing. Slack, Palantir and Asana have followed since then, and next month, gaming company Roblox plans to seek a direct listing.

It is expected that Coinbase's IPO date will be in late February or early March.