Coinbase Global Inc. co-Founders Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam, as well as other insiders, raked in a whole lot of fiat money when the cryptocurrency exchange went public last week through a direct listing.
Shares of the largest U.S. crypto exchange
COIN,
closed on its first-day of trading last Wednesday at $328.28, well above the $250 reference price, and enough to make Coinbase the most valuable U.S. exchange.
With Coinbase choosing a direct listing over the more traditional initial public offering, the company didn’t raise money by going public, but it did allow insiders to sell some of their shares to the public, many who were seeking indirect exposure to the cryptocurrency market.
In Form 4 filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Friday, Coinbase detailed the share sales by company insiders.
Going into the public listing, Brian Armstrong, co-founder and chief executive officer of Coinbase, owned 11% of the Class A shares and 22% of the Class B shares. Fred Ehrsam, also a co-founder and board member, owned 11.4% of the Class A shares and 9% of the Class B shares.
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Last Wednesday, Armstrong sold 749,999 Class A shares at a weighted-average price of about $389.10, to raise about $291. 83 million, according to a MarketWatch calculation of data in SEC filings. The sales were executed in a number of open-market transactions at prices ranging from $381.00, where the stock opened, and $410.40.
Also on Wednesday, filings show Ehrsam sold 298,789 Class A shares into the open market at a weighted-average price of about $374.72 to raise $111.96 million. The sales were made through a series of trades, at prices ranging from $318.67 to $422.76.
For reference, Coinbase’s stock opened Wednesday at $381.100, then traded in an intraday range of $310.00 to $429.54 before closing at $328.28.
The stock fell 2.6% on Monday to $333.00, while bitcoin
BTCUSD,
fell more than 1% and the S&P 500 index
SPX,
slipped 0.5%.
Also read: Coinbase hangover? Here’s why bitcoin may be suffering its steepest slide since February.
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Among other insiders who traded shares on Wednesday, Chief Financial Officer Alesia Haas acquired 255,500 Class A shares through the conversion of derivative securities at a price of $6.7933, filings show. At the same time, Haas sold 255,500 shares in the open market at a weighted average price of about $388.73, to net $97.59 million.
President Emilie Choi acquired a total of 551,629 shares through the conversion of derivative securities at a weighted average price of about $17.63, at a cost of $9.73 million, filings show. Choi then sold a total of 602,158 shares at a weighted-average price of $364.98, resulting in a net raise of $210.05 million.
Chief Accounting Officer Jennifer Jones acquired 110,000 shares through the conversion of derivative securities at a weighted average price of about $7.58, then sold 110,000 shares in the open market at a weighted average price of $394.86. The trades netted Jones with $42.60 million.