The much awaited Nasdaq Direct Listing of Coinbase, which will get the stock ticker, COIN, takes place today – 14 April 2021 – but many people looking to invest may be wondering at what time this may happen.
The short answer is it is not clear.
Unlike a “traditional” IPO, Coinbase has opted to Direct List, a step taken more rarely. Other notable direct listers in recent year have been Air BNB and Spotify. Direct Listing means selling without a price set on launch, via an investment bank, and can mean that money isn’t “left on the table” when the stock lists.
It is a little harder to schedule, however.
One of the recent direct listings didn’t hit the market for buyers – retail or otherwise – until 1pm local time.
Another direct listed stock was Palantir (Nasdaq: PLTR) which began selling at 1.30pm EST (6.30pm BST, 7.30pm CET).
Keep an eye on the market, in other words, but don’t expect to see shares trading right on the opening bell.
