The debut, done through a direct listing where no shares are sold ahead of the opening, marked another milestone for bitcoin and other digital assets and came amid a surge in the value of cryptocurrencies that has lured a clutch of mainstream, top-tier firms.

Cathie Wood’s Ark funds bought US$246 million worth of Coinbase shares on Wednesday, while one of her funds sold a US$4.4 million stake in New York Stock Exchange-owner Intercontinental Exchange, according to the firm’s daily trade summary.

“Obviously, the excitement is there because this really just strengthens the idea that, right now, you can invest not into cryptocurrencies per se, but in companies that are already in business in the cryptocurrency market,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.

“At some point, there will be a normalisation in the transaction levels (in cryptocurrencies) and that’s exactly what traditional investors are looking to understand – are these levels normal? Probably not.”

Founded in 2012 by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam, San Francisco-based Coinbase has 56 million users globally and an estimated US$223 billion assets on its platform, accounting for 11.3% of the crypto-asset market share, regulatory filings showed.

Coinbase’s valuation, which was just under US$6 billion as recently as September, has surged in tandem with bitcoin’s gains this year.

The world’s biggest cryptocurrency, however, was down about 0.9% on Thursday after hitting a record high of US$64,895.22 a day earlier.

At 6.42am ET, Coinbase shares were up 9.4% at US$358.61, valuing the cryptocurrency exchange more than Nasdaq Inc and Intercontinental Exchange put together.