Coinbase chief executive sold $291.8m in shares on listing day
The chief executive of the recently-listed Coinbase sold more than $290m of his shares on the platform’s opening day last week.
Brian Armstrong sold $291.8m in shares during the digital currency platform’s first day of trading on the Nasdaq, regulatory filings showed.
He sold 749,999 shares in three batches at prices ranging from $381 to $410.40 per share, according to the filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Coinbase saw its shares rise more than 50 per cent to $380 per share which sent the firm’s value up to nearly $100bn, on par with Facebook and Airbnb.
It is the first major cryptocurrency company to go public in the US amid a strong appetite for alternative assets during the economic turmoil.
The company generates its revenue from charging fees when investors buy or sell cryptocurrencies so profit could further increase particularly in times of market volatility.
Total trading volume on the platform reached $335bn in the first quarter of this year, with revenue of nearly $1.8bn.
Coinbase’s IPO signalled a coming of age for bitcoin but for others it has taken the sheen off crypto’s appeal. Over the weekend bitcoin plunged 15 per cent on Sunday to around $52,000 but is making up some ground this afternoon.