Coinbase is in danger of being delisted on Friday by the Deutsche Börse due to issues with proper reference codes.
Friday could prove to be a major day in the history of Coinbase as it was announced that the Deutsche Börse is planning to delist shares from its Xetra and Frankfurt systems. Along with this, the shares of the cryptocurrency platform are down 2.1% to $313.63 as of early Wednesday. Overall, shares are down 20% from last weeks price of $381.00 at the opening.
Coinbase stock made its long-anticipated Nasdaq debut a week ago, the biggest yet of any cryptocurrency company. CEO Brian Armstrong unloaded nearly 750,000 shares or 1.5% of his total stake for around $300 million shares on day one. Early investors sold nearly $5 billion worth of stock on the day of listing.
Despite this hiccup, Deutsche Börse continues its commitment to expanding the range of cryptocurrencies available for trading. Litecoin ETN became the latest big name to get into business after Deutsche Börse became the first worldwide exchange to trade centrally cleared cryptos, including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin.
The current product offering is comprised of over 200 ENTs and almost 1,700 EFTs as of April 20th.
Potential delisting due to incorrect LEI code
A Legal Entity Identifier, or LEI, is a 20 character, alpha-numeric code required for stocks to be traded. The LEI connects to key reference info, enabling clear identification of all legal entities involved with any given transaction.
Coinbase did provide this code when their foray into the Deutsche Börse began. Unfortunately, it was later determined that the code provided was not linked properly to the listed entity.
Xetras Twitter account posted the following statement regarding the issue:
“1/4 #Coinbase: In order to be able to trade securities in Frankfurt and on Xetra, various criteria must be met. Among other things, each security must have a so-called LEI, an individual 20-digit code that serves to identify participants in the financial market.”
The Twitter thread states that the only way for Coinbase to resume regular trading at any traditional venue in Germany is to apply for a proper LEI. According to the LEI official website, this process can be completed within an hour of submission in Germany.
At this point, it is unclear whether the ‘clerical issue’ was on the side of Coinbase or Deutsche Boerse.