Coinbase’s $100 Billion Valuation Creates New Fortunes

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase debuted on the Nasdaq yesterday, quickly soaring to a valuation of more than $100 billion.

Though it would later close at a market cap of $85.8 billion as the initial trading euphoria eased, the Coinbase IPO boosted the fortunes of the company’s founders to the level of the ultra-wealthy.

Founder CEO Brian Armstrong, who owns some 20% of the company’s shares, saw his net worth raised to over $20 billion in early trading, easily slipping into the ranks of the world’s 100 richest people. Co-founder and retired company president Fred Ehrsam’s 9% stake in Coinbase grew to around $9 billion in value.

Also benefiting from the IPO was Marc Andreessen, co-founder of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and member of Coinbase’s board of directors. As the second-largest individual shareholder in the company, Andreessen’s Coinbase assets leapt to around $18 billion.

A surprise winner from the IPO is rap icon Nas, who became one of Coinbase’s earliest investors upon joining its $25 million Series B round in 2013. His firm invested between $100,000 and $500,000 – gaining shares that became worth between $41.2 million and $206 million during the IPO.

Coinbase is the largest cryptocurrency exchange platform in the US, with a recorded 56 million users and $223 billion in held assets as of the end of March. Its stock market debut has generated excitement among crypto backers as a potential harbinger of virtual currencies’ greater acceptance among mainstream finance.

A tweet from Armstrong on Wednesday echoed this investor sentiment: “Today is a big moment for @coinbase  as we become a public company. But it’s also a big one for crypto.”