Coinbase Opens IPO Access to US Retail Investors, Starting with Oura's $2.2B Offering

Coinbase Launches IPO Access for Retail Users

Coinbase has begun offering initial public offering (IPO) access to eligible U.S. retail customers, marking a significant expansion of its product suite. The first deal available through the new service is Oura's $2.2 billion offering, and the announcement helped push COIN shares up more than 5% on Sep. 21.

According to a Sep. 21 announcement, customers can now request IPO allocations directly through the Coinbase mobile app. The feature allows users to participate in public offerings before shares begin trading on public exchanges.

How the IPO Process Works

Eligible U.S. retail customers can open the IPO section of the Coinbase app, select an active deal, and fund their accounts to cover the requested shares. Once an expected price range is published, users can submit a conditional offer to buy the stock.

Investors may change or cancel their offer while the order book remains open. Coinbase noted that if the IPO price rises above a limit attached to the original offer, customers must submit another request.

After the order book closes, Coinbase will distribute available shares using its allocation system. Demand and the number of shares provided by underwriters will determine whether a request receives a full allocation, a partial allocation, or no shares. Allocated stock enters the customer's account at the final IPO price, and trading through Coinbase begins when shares start changing hands on the public market.

Oura's Offering Details

Oura and its existing shareholders are offering 50 million shares at between $40 and $44 each, according to Reuters. At the top of the range, the deal would raise as much as $2.2 billion and give the company a fully diluted valuation of about $15.62 billion.

The smart-ring maker plans to list on Nasdaq under the ticker OURA. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan are serving as lead underwriters. Eli Lilly has expressed interest in buying up to $100 million of shares, while Dragoneer may purchase up to $300 million, Reuters reported.

Oura generated $1.21 billion in revenue during the nine months through June 30, representing a 74% increase from the same period a year earlier.

Allocation Rules Favor Long-Term Holders

Coinbase said its allocation method will favor customers who appear more likely to retain their shares rather than sell shortly after an IPO begins trading. Investors who dispose of allocated shares during the first 30 days may lose access to upcoming IPOs for 60 days.

Repeated early sales could also result in smaller allocations or fewer opportunities compared with users who hold their shares longer. "Our allocation algorithm prioritizes investors who believe in what they're purchasing for the long haul," the company said.

IPO shares will be offered through Coinbase Capital Markets, the exchange's Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)-registered broker-dealer. Securities accounts and crypto accounts will remain separate, and Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) coverage will not apply to digital assets or cash held with Coinbase's crypto business.

Before requesting shares, each customer must complete a standard FINRA questionnaire designed to identify people who may face restrictions on participating in an offering. Coinbase Capital Markets will act as a best-efforts selling-group member, collecting customer requests and sending them to Apex Clearing Corporation.

The broker will act as an agent rather than an underwriter, meaning it will not purchase inventory or take the opposite side of customer orders. Execution, custody, and clearing will be handled by Apex.

Coinbase said additional IPOs will become available when its broker-dealer receives allocations from future selling groups.

Part of Coinbase's "Everything Exchange" Strategy

The IPO service adds another U.S. securities product to Coinbase's plan to combine crypto, stocks, derivatives, and other investments in one application. "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.

During a June product event, the company introduced an SEC-registered automated investment adviser alongside stock options, crypto options, prediction markets, and equity index products. Coinbase also disclosed plans for private-company derivatives tied to OpenAI and Anthropic.

Unlike the new IPO service, those pre-IPO perpetual contracts do not give investors company shares. The derivatives provide price exposure to a private business without ownership, voting rights, or a direct claim on its stock.

Coinbase began offering such contracts outside the United States with a SpaceX-linked perpetual before adding planned products connected to OpenAI and Anthropic. A June report on the contracts noted that pricing private-company derivatives can be difficult because the underlying businesses do not trade continuously on public exchanges.

Within the United States, Coinbase has also submitted registrations related to single-stock perpetual contracts. Two filings dated Sep. 1 seek to register Coinbase Derivatives as a security futures exchange and Coinbase Financial Markets as a limited-purpose security futures broker-dealer.

Single-stock futures fall under the joint authority of the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Coinbase has not provided a launch date, leverage limits, or a final list of shares for the proposed U.S. contracts.

Outside the country, the company has already issued tokenized versions of U.S. stocks backed by securities held through an offshore structure and a regulated American broker. The products remain unavailable to U.S. persons under the current Regulation S offering, although verified overseas holders can request redemption. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has said the structure is based on real underlying shares rather than synthetic exposure or unsecured debt.

COIN Stock Jumps on the News

Coinbase shares rose 5.7% to $205.38 during U.S. trading on Sep. 21, adding $11.13 from the previous close. COIN opened at $205.05 and traded between $196.48 and $208.28 during the session.

Trading volume had reached 7.73 million shares by 3:15 p.m. UTC, while the company's market capitalization stood at approximately $54.1 billion.

Coinasity's Take

Coinbase's move to open IPO access to retail investors signals a broader strategy to become a one-stop shop for all types of investments—crypto and traditional alike. The emphasis on long-term holding over quick flips could help stabilize post-IPO trading and align with the company's vision of fostering genuine investor commitment.

While the Oura offering is just the first, it sets a precedent that may attract more high-profile companies to Coinbase's platform. For now, COIN's stock reaction suggests the market views this expansion favorably, but the real test will be whether retail demand and allocation fairness hold up as more IPOs roll out.