Coinbase Hands Retail the IPO Keys—Just Don't Day-Trade the Handout 🚪

Coinbase has opened IPO access to its U.S. retail customers, beginning this week with an allocation for the Oura public listing and extending ahead of the widely watched Anthropic IPO. Shares can be requested at the offer price before trading opens on public exchanges. The service is operated through Coinbase Capital Markets, the company's FINRA-registered broker-dealer subsidiary.

The crypto exchange framed the rollout as part of its push to become what it calls the "Everything Exchange." "This new feature is yet another step toward growing the Everything Exchange, as our US customers now gain early exposure to high-interest companies before they hit public exchanges," Coinbase said in a blog post.

To discourage rapid flipping, Coinbase said its allocation algorithm will prioritize investors it expects to hold shares long term. Customers who sell IPO shares within 30 days of receiving an allocation may be barred from future IPO access for 60 days, and repeat offenders may receive smaller and less frequent allocations going forward.

The launch lands amid strong momentum for Coinbase's own equity. COIN gained more than 6% at the market open on the day of the announcement, extending a year-to-date climb that has carried the stock to multi-year highs as the company broadens its offerings across tokenization, prediction markets and traditional equities.

The Anthropic listing, expected later this year, will be the next major test of the new retail IPO channel and is likely to draw heavy demand given the artificial-intelligence firm's profile. Coinbase has not disclosed pricing terms for either deal.