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Coinbase announced Thursday that it has confidentially filed a draft registration statement with the SEC, teeing it up for an IPO likely in early 2021.
The startup could end up being the first crypto exchange to list publicly, a milestone for the crypto industry. Coinbase was last valued at over $8 billion by investors in 2018.
Biz Carson ( @bizcarson) is a San Francisco-based reporter at Protocol, covering Silicon Valley with a focus on startups and venture capital. Previously, she reported for Forbes and was co-editor of Forbes Next Billion-Dollar Startups list. Before that, she worked for Business Insider, Gigaom, and Wired and started her career as a newspaper designer for Gannett.
Big Tech benefits from Biden’s sweeping immigration actions
Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai praised President Biden's immigration actions, which read like a tech industry wishlist.
Newly-inaugurated President Joe Biden signed two immigration-related executive orders on Wednesday.
Emily Birnbaum ( @birnbaum_e) is a tech policy reporter with Protocol. Her coverage focuses on the U.S. government's attempts to regulate one of the most powerful industries in the world, with a focus on antitrust, privacy and politics. Previously, she worked as a tech policy reporter with The Hill after spending several months as a breaking news reporter. She is a Bethesda, Maryland native and proud Kenyon College alumna.
Immediately after being sworn in as president Wednesday, Joe Biden signed two pro-immigration executive orders and delivered an immigration bill to Congress that reads like a tech industry wishlist. The move drew enthusiastic praise from tech leaders, including Apple CEO Tim Cook and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai.
President Biden nullified several of former-President Trump's most hawkish immigration policies. His executive orders reversed the so-called "Muslim ban" and instructed the attorney general and the secretary of Homeland Security to preserve the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program, which the Trump administration had sought to end. He also sent an expansive immigration reform bill to Congress that would provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented individuals and make it easier for foreign U.S. graduates with STEM degrees to stay in the United States, among other provisions.
Emily Birnbaum ( @birnbaum_e) is a tech policy reporter with Protocol. Her coverage focuses on the U.S. government's attempts to regulate one of the most powerful industries in the world, with a focus on antitrust, privacy and politics. Previously, she worked as a tech policy reporter with The Hill after spending several months as a breaking news reporter. She is a Bethesda, Maryland native and proud Kenyon College alumna.
Tech's love affair with Wall Street is going to continue into 2021.
Biz Carson ( @bizcarson) is a San Francisco-based reporter at Protocol, covering Silicon Valley with a focus on startups and venture capital. Previously, she reported for Forbes and was co-editor of Forbes Next Billion-Dollar Startups list. Before that, she worked for Business Insider, Gigaom, and Wired and started her career as a newspaper designer for Gannett.
Shakeel Hashim ( @shakeelhashim) is a growth manager at Protocol, based in London. He was previously an analyst at Finimize covering business and economics, and a digital journalist at News UK. His writing has appeared in The Economist and its book, Uncommon Knowledge.
The second half of 2020 has been an IPO bonanza. So far, it looks like 2021 will be more of the same.
Affirm and Roblox, which delayed their listings in 2020, are almost certain to go public, and they'll be joined by some of the biggest companies in tech, such as crypto exchange Coinbase.
- Unity's unusual IPO was a huge success, raising more than $1.3 billion ›
- IPO 2.0: A choose-your-own adventure - Protocol ›
- Everything you need to know about Airbnb's IPO - Protocol ›
- Inside the end-of-year IPO rush - Protocol ›
- How Databricks plans to take on Snowflake and Google and score a huge IPO - Protocol ›
- The NYSE China flip-flop is part of a bigger battle between profit and accountability - Protocol ›
- Databricks plans to take on Snowflake and Google and score a huge IPO - Protocol ›
- Affirm takes 'buy now, pay later' public today. Investors may balk at the risk. - Protocol — The people, power and politics of tech ›
- Poshmark's Ecommerce push draws investors - Protocol — The people, power and politics of tech ›
Biz Carson ( @bizcarson) is a San Francisco-based reporter at Protocol, covering Silicon Valley with a focus on startups and venture capital. Previously, she reported for Forbes and was co-editor of Forbes Next Billion-Dollar Startups list. Before that, she worked for Business Insider, Gigaom, and Wired and started her career as a newspaper designer for Gannett.
The breakthrough list: 17 people who had a big 2020
They cut through the noise and found themselves in the spotlight this year.
Clockwise from left: Rashad Robinson, Chamath Palihapitiya, Gwynne Shotwell, Vanessa Pappas and Brian Armstrong all found themselves in the spotlight this year.
Biz Carson ( @bizcarson) is a San Francisco-based reporter at Protocol, covering Silicon Valley with a focus on startups and venture capital. Previously, she reported for Forbes and was co-editor of Forbes Next Billion-Dollar Startups list. Before that, she worked for Business Insider, Gigaom, and Wired and started her career as a newspaper designer for Gannett.
It was a big year for Big Tech, with the CEOs of Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook and Twitter all appearing before Congress and billionaires like Elon Musk becoming even richer. But they're not the only people with power in the tech industry.
This year, Protocol wanted to highlight the people in tech who broke through the noise and became a name you should know. Some, like Snowflake's CEO Frank Slootman, celebrated giant business successes, while others, like TikTok's Vanessa Pappas, found themselves in a global political match over an app. Coinbase's Brian Armstrong managed to play both the hero and the villain in a year, alienating some employees with a reportedly hostile workplace while being championed by many in Silicon Valley for taking a no-politics stance during a highly political year.
Biz Carson ( @bizcarson) is a San Francisco-based reporter at Protocol, covering Silicon Valley with a focus on startups and venture capital. Previously, she reported for Forbes and was co-editor of Forbes Next Billion-Dollar Startups list. Before that, she worked for Business Insider, Gigaom, and Wired and started her career as a newspaper designer for Gannett.
Tech rallies around social and political causes. One CEO is pushing back.
Will others follow Coinbase's lead?
"We could use our workday debating what to do about various unrelated challenges in the world, but that would not be in service of the company or our own interests as employees and shareholders," writes Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong.
Biz Carson ( @bizcarson) is a San Francisco-based reporter at Protocol, covering Silicon Valley with a focus on startups and venture capital. Previously, she reported for Forbes and was co-editor of Forbes Next Billion-Dollar Startups list. Before that, she worked for Business Insider, Gigaom, and Wired and started her career as a newspaper designer for Gannett.
In 2017, Sergey Brin attended rallies at the San Francisco Airport to challenge Trump's immigration order. In 2018, Microsoft employees protested their company's work with ICE. In 2019, Google, Microsoft and Amazon employees all walked off the job to urge climate change action. It's fair to say that during a divisive presidency, the tech industry — and business leaders writ large — has become much more comfortable speaking out on societal and political issues.
But in 2020, Coinbase's CEO Brian Armstrong said enough is enough.
- How companies can really support Black Lives Matter: Listen, invest ... ›
- A CEO's pledge: 'I will not accept bias or racism in our company ... ›
- Tech talks the protest talk. Will it walk the walk? - Protocol ›
- Microsoft, Amazon and IBM express 'solidarity.' Should they end ... ›
- Life after Google: Ex-employees keep speaking out - Protocol ›
- Tech is torn over social activism at work - Protocol ›
- Expensify’s CEO explains how he made the decision to tell all his customers to vote for Biden - Protocol ›
Biz Carson ( @bizcarson) is a San Francisco-based reporter at Protocol, covering Silicon Valley with a focus on startups and venture capital. Previously, she reported for Forbes and was co-editor of Forbes Next Billion-Dollar Startups list. Before that, she worked for Business Insider, Gigaom, and Wired and started her career as a newspaper designer for Gannett.
‘It’s going crazy’: Silicon Valley’s rush to cope with coronavirus
As Facebook and others cancel events, companies across tech ponder remote-work solutions, bigger cleaning budgets and more.
A commuter in a mask and gloves got some work done Thursday on a BART train in Oakland.
Lauren Hepler ( @lahepler) is a former reporter for Protocol covering how people live and work in Silicon Valley. She previously covered development, energy, and tech for The New York Times, The Guardian, the LA Times, the Silicon Valley Business Journal, and others. Lauren can be reached at lhepler@protocol.com (just ask for Signal), and you can share information with her anonymously via Protocol's SecureDrop. She grew up in Ohio and lives in Oakland.
Phase one: If 100 cases of the coronavirus are confirmed near a Coinbase office, all employees for the cryptocurrency exchange will be allowed to work from home.
Phase two: After 1,000 confirmed cases, essential personnel may be relocated, and office services like snacks and cleaning will likely become unviable for anyone still risking the commute.
Lauren Hepler ( @lahepler) is a former reporter for Protocol covering how people live and work in Silicon Valley. She previously covered development, energy, and tech for The New York Times, The Guardian, the LA Times, the Silicon Valley Business Journal, and others. Lauren can be reached at lhepler@protocol.com (just ask for Signal), and you can share information with her anonymously via Protocol's SecureDrop. She grew up in Ohio and lives in Oakland.