[ti:Bitcoin Hits Record High as Digital Currency Company Goes Public] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]Bitcoin rose to record highs on Wednesday [00:04.96]as a major digital currency company went public [00:09.92]on America's Nasdaq stock exchange. [00:14.56]Going public means a company sells shares of stock to raise money. [00:22.24]It also means that the owner of the company [00:25.96]must now answer to those who bought the stock. [00:31.20]At one point before the listing of the company, Coinbase, [00:36.32]the value of bitcoin rose above $64,000. [00:43.52]Coinbase is the largest U.S. exchange for digital currency, [00:49.56]also known as cryptocurrency. [00:54.16]Bitcoin is the world's biggest form of cryptocurrency. [01:00.60]The value of bitcoin has gone up and down wildly [01:05.80]since it was created in 2009 by a mysterious developer or group [01:12.84]that went by the name Satoshi Nakamoto. [01:17.32]This year, the digital currency reached another major record [01:22.44]in early January when it hit $40,000. [01:28.64]Experts say the continued climb of bitcoin in recent months [01:34.64]was partly fueled by decisions [01:37.88]by some major U.S. companies to invest in bitcoin. [01:43.76]Those moves -- along with the listing of Coinbase on the Nasdaq [01:49.28]-- have helped bring cryptocurrencies more [01:52.72]into the U.S. financial mainstream, the experts say. [01:59.16]One company supporting bitcoin is American electric carmaker Tesla. [02:06.68]The company announced in February [02:09.60]it had invested about $1.5 billion in the digital currency. [02:17.12]Tesla said it planned to accept bitcoin as payment [02:21.96]for its cars and other products. [02:25.84]Another major buyer was financial services company Square, [02:31.32]which said in February it had invested $170 million dollars in bitcoin. [02:39.88]Square operates the Cash App payment service. [02:44.72]PayPal and Visa also recently said they would permit users [02:50.64]to make payments with cryptocurrencies. [02:54.84]Even major American investment banks like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley [03:01.24]have signaled interest in getting involved in in digital currencies in the future. [03:09.00]Financial companies had long warned against such investments [03:14.24]because of the high risks and unpredictability linked to them. [03:20.64]But the listing of Coinbase on the Nasdaq [03:24.40]is seen by some financial experts [03:27.76]as the biggest milestone yet for cryptocurrencies. [03:32.96]William Cong is an associate professor of finance [03:37.68]at Cornell University's SC Johnson College of Business. [03:44.48]He told Reuters that the Coinbase listing "is significant [03:50.00]in that it marks the growth of the industry [03:53.32]and its acceptance into mainstream business." [03:58.48]Michael Hewson, an analyst at CMC Markets in Britain, [04:04.20]told the French press agency AFP [04:07.80]he thinks digital currencies have had a good year. [04:12.40]"With bitcoin already having more than doubled in the last six months [04:18.28]and cryptocurrencies becoming more popular [04:21.96]with more mainstream investors, it can certainly be argued [04:26.48]that crypto has become more mainstream in the past 12 months," he said. [04:34.00]Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives wrote earlier this week [04:38.80]that the Coinbase listing could be "a watershed event for the crypto industry." [04:46.72]The listing is by far the biggest yet of a cryptocurrency company. [04:53.36]The company chose a direct listing on Nasdaq. [04:58.16]Such a listing does not permit the company to raise new funds. [05:03.52]But it does offer current shareholders – founders, [05:08.00]employees and early investors – the chance to sell their stocks on the market. [05:15.36]San Francisco-based Coinbase was founded in 2012 [05:20.56]and says it has 56 million users worldwide. [05:27.04]It permits users to buy and sell bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. [05:34.36]It estimated last week it would earn $1.8 billion [05:39.88]during the first quarter of 2021. [05:44.40]During all of 2020, the company reported earnings of $1.3 billion. [05:52.40]Wall Street experts have projected Coinbase [05:57.12]could be valued at between $65 to $100 billion. [06:03.36]The Nasdaq gave the company a target price of $250 a share. [06:11.80]Some industry analysts, however, think Coinbase has been highly overvalued. [06:19.84]David Trainer, CEO of investment research firm New Constructs, [06:25.88]told the Associated Press the company has "little-to-no-chance" [06:31.36]of meeting its profit expectations. [06:35.80]He added that Coinbase had a "ridiculously high valuation." [06:41.88]Last week, Trainer estimated a valuation closer to $18.9 billion, [06:50.04]arguing that Coinbase will face more competition [06:54.68]as the cryptocurrency market grows. [06:58.32]I'm Bryan Lynn. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM