Coinbase has begun offering eligible U.S. retail customers the ability to request allocations in initial public offerings directly through its mobile application. The service launches with Oura’s public offering this week, giving participants a chance to acquire shares at the IPO price before trading begins on the open market.

The company framed the launch as part of its broader effort to expand into traditional securities products alongside its cryptocurrency business. Shares of Coinbase rose more than 5 percent on the day of the announcement, closing higher amid wider gains in crypto-related equities.

How the IPO Request Process Works

Eligible customers access a dedicated IPOs section inside the Coinbase app, select an active offering, and fund their brokerage account to cover the value of the shares they wish to request. Once the expected price range for the deal becomes public, users submit a conditional offer to buy. That offer can be modified or canceled while the order book remains open. If the final IPO price exceeds a limit set in the original request, customers must submit a new offer to stay eligible.

After the order book closes, Coinbase allocates available shares according to its system. A request may receive a full allocation, a partial allocation, or no shares, depending on overall demand and the number of shares supplied by the underwriters. Allocated shares enter the customer’s account at the final IPO price and become tradable on Coinbase once public-market trading starts.

Allocation Rules Encourage Longer Holding Periods

Coinbase designed its allocation method to favor customers more likely to hold shares rather than sell them immediately after listing. Investors who dispose of allocated shares within the first 30 days may lose access to future IPO opportunities for the following 60 days. Repeated early sales can result in smaller or less frequent allocations compared with users who retain their shares for longer periods.

Before participating, each customer must complete a standard FINRA questionnaire intended to identify individuals who may face restrictions on IPO participation.

Regulatory Structure and Operational Details

The service operates through Coinbase Capital Markets, a FINRA-registered broker-dealer that is separate from the company’s digital-asset business. Coinbase Capital Markets participates as a best-efforts selling-group member rather than an underwriter. It aggregates customer requests and routes them to Apex Clearing Corporation, which handles execution, clearing, and custody. The broker-dealer acts solely as an agent and does not purchase inventory or take the opposite side of customer orders.

Securities accounts remain distinct from crypto accounts. Securities Investor Protection Corporation coverage does not extend to digital assets or cash held with Coinbase’s crypto operations. The company stated that additional IPOs will become available as Coinbase Capital Markets receives allocations from future selling groups.

Oura Offering Details

Oura, the maker of wearable smart rings, is offering 50 million shares at an expected price range of $40 to $44 each. At the top of that range the deal would raise as much as $2.2 billion and imply a fully diluted valuation of approximately $15.62 billion. The company 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 purchasing up to $100 million of shares, while Dragoneer may buy up to $300 million.

Oura reported $1.21 billion in revenue for the nine months ended June 30, a 74 percent increase from the same period a year earlier.

Part of a Wider Product Expansion

The IPO feature adds primary-market access to Coinbase’s growing suite of traditional-finance products. The platform already offers U.S. stock and ETF trading, stock options, prediction markets, and equity-index products. Outside the United States the company has introduced pre-IPO perpetual contracts linked to private companies, beginning with SpaceX and with plans for additional names. Within the U.S., Coinbase has filed registrations related to single-stock perpetual contracts, though no launch date has been announced.

Coinbase shares rose 5.7 percent to $205.38 on September 21, with a market capitalization of roughly $54.1 billion at the time. Trading volume reached several million shares during the session. The move coincides with a broader recovery in cryptocurrency prices and related equities.

The company indicated it intends to expand the number of IPO opportunities available through the platform as further selling-group allocations become available.