Coinbase recently publicly released a Form S-1. While the document is primarily about the exchange's upcoming stock offering, it is also considering the possibility of a native cryptocurrency.
Coinbase mentions a native token in several sections. The company suggests that it could "issue additional equity shares, including in the form of blockchain tokens, in connection with customer rewards or loyalty programs."
More specifically, the company states that it has "authorized the issuance of blank stock" that its board of directors could use to "issue equity shares in the form of blockchain tokens, implement a shareholder rights plan, or issue other preferred or common stock."
These comments do not necessarily suggest that COINBASE intends to launch its own token. Rather, they indicate that the exchange is considering the implications of such an action.
Coinbase believes that issuing a token would affect its share price. The company has indicated that if it issues a coin, the decision could "result in significant dilution to our current stockholders" and cause share prices to decline or become unstable.
Will a Coinbase token be created?
Despite Coinbase's concerns, the idea of launching its own cryptocurrency is not completely out of the question.
Many leading cryptocurrency exchanges have their own assets, including BINANCE (Binance Coin), Huobi (Huobi Token), Gemini (Gemini Dollar), KUCOIN (KuCoin Token) and OKEx (OKB Coin).
In fact, Coinbase is already heavily involved in stablecoin USD Coin (USDC). The company co-founded the Centre Consortium, which issues the coin. It also distributes rewards to USDC holders who store their balance on the exchange's platform. Given these facts, the creation of a new retail cryptocurrency Coinbase seems unlikely.
It is more likely that the company will tokenize its shares for institutional trading. Especially considering that there are no assets for this purpose yet.
