Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase made big headlines yesterday, after a Recode report that it's closing in on a $500 million investment led by Tiger Global at an $8 billion valuation. Why it matters: This means that Coinbase would effectively quintuple its valuation from a round just 14 months ago. It's a huge validation for the company and the broader digital token market. But, as Axios has also learned, Coinbase's valuation increase could have been even larger, but instead was negatively affected by the 2018 price deterioration of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.