Why did coinbase IPO by selling shares traditionally instead of issuing tokens via an ICO? Wouldn't that have shown a real belief in what they are doing?<p>If there are current legitimate legal risks to issuing all their publicly-sellable equity via an ICO? Why not do only some of it as crypto coins?<p>What's stopping them from issuing a few coins even now? They don't need to need the money. They need to prove that ICOs can work. They are the best placed company in the world to do this: are at the intersection between tradfi and defi, and exist in a country where regulations do exist and do get enforced.
You kind of already touched on one of the main reasons: there’s a regulatory framework in place for an IPO in their operating jurisdiction. There is still a lot of ambiguity and regulation to come for ICO’s and they (rightfully) don’t want to risk their company until those get ironed out.
> Wouldn't that have shown a real belief in what they are doing?<p>Just because Coinbase operates within the crypto space doesn’t mean they must themselves embrace and utilize every mechanism within the space. Even if they believe in ICOs specifically, they may have not made sense for their specific business (see other comments about regulation)