Coinbase price opens 6% higher a day after its blockbuster listing - here are levels to watch

Shares of Coinbase Global (NASDAQ: COIN) have gapped up about 6% on Thursday after closing 31% higher compared to the reference price on its first day as a publicly-traded stock.

Fundamental analysis: Volatile trading

Shares of the company opened at $381 per share on its first day of trading, 52% higher than its reference price of $250 a share. Shares then rallied to $429.54 on the back of a high interest to buy Coinbase stock, before plunging over $100 to close the day at $328.28, marking 14% below the opening price.

The company’s stock hit $100 billion in valuation at one point during the day before the share price slipped. Coinbase made its public debut on Wednesday through a direct listing.

Brian Armstrong, the founder of Coinbase, said the exchange currently holds more than $200 billion worth of cryptocurrency, representing 11% of all the crypto in the world. He said that roughly half of that figure belongs to institutional investors. 

“The majority of money in the world is tied up in institutions. I think it is maybe 80-90% and so we expect that business to be really big over time,” Armstrong said.

Coinbase is the largest crypto exchange in the United States. It has 56 million verified users and welcomes around 13,000 retail traders a day, according to data by Messari. 

CNBC’s Mad Money host Jim Cramer said he sees Coinbase stock as s “real deal” and added that if you’re a “big believer in cryptocurrency … you want to own Coinbase for the long haul.”

Technical analysis: Where next?

Although the data is still raw and limited, we look at levels that may shape today’s price action. The high comes in at $328.28, while the low is $310.00. Given that the price action traded in a downtrend in the last hours of yesterday’s trading session, the Fibonacci retracement provides us with the battle lines.

The 38.2% Fibonacci retracement of the high-low comes in at $355 and will mark the first major resistance line. Higher, we have 50% and 61.8% retracement lines sitting at $369 and $383, respectively. Note that the area around the $381 handle gives the company a valuation of $100 billion, hence it may act as a level of interest going forward.

Summary

Coinbase shares opened at $381 on its trading debut yesterday, which is about 52% compared to its reference price of $250 a share. Shares climbed to near $430 before moving sharply lower. Today, Coinbase stock gapped up to start the second trading day.