Coinbase Scores $300M Series E Round

According to Fortune, Coinbase, the most popular cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S., announced on Tuesday a massive Series E funding round that values the company at $8 billion.

The company announced the $300 million investment in a blog post, which said the financing is being led by New York-based Tiger Global, and will be used to accelerate global expansion and the offering of more cryptocurrencies.

"We see hundreds of cryptocurrencies that could be added to our platform today and we will lay the groundwork to support thousands in the future," wrote Coinbase Chief Operating Officer Assif Hirji in the post.

Currently, Coinbase only offers Bitcoin and a handful of other cryptocurrencies, in part due to concerns that many digital currencies may be securities that must be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The latest funding round, which follows a $100 million round in August of 2017, is being led by New York-based Tiger Global with contributions from Y Combinator Continuity, Wellington Management, Andreessen Horowitz, and Polychain Capital among others.

A source close to Coinbase told Fortune the company will also be bringing on other investors in the near future via a secondary offering worth $200 million or more. This offering would serve as a vehicle for some employees and early investors to cash in their shares, and would not change the overall amount of capital raised by Coinbase.

The Series E funding round also points to Coinbase possibly going public in 2019. While the company hasn't discussed a specific timeline to go public, CEO Brian Armstrong recently stated he would like to run a public company.