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Coinbase stock is up modestly since its direct listing.
Dreamstime
The chip giant
Intel
appears to have recently bought shares of
Coinbase
Global, a publicly traded exchange for cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Intel (ticker: INTC) disclosed Friday that it owned 3,014 shares of Coinbase (COIN) as of the end of June. It didn’t disclose owning any Coinbase stock at the end of the first quarter. Coinbase shares only began to trade publicly in April through a direct listing.
It is possible that Intel invested in Coinbase before the shares were trading publicly. Regulatory filings only require companies that are going public to disclose investors with stakes of 5% or more.
Intel didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the investment.
The Coinbase holding is relatively small—about $800,000 based on a recent trading price of $264.60—but Intel was obligated to disclose the stake to the Securities and Exchange Commission because it owns more than $100 million in publicly traded investments. Intel’s largest investments as of June 30 were 5.7 million shares of
McAfee
(MCFE), and 139,780 shares of
MaxLinear
(MXL). Barron’s reported in May that Intel had invested in payments-processing firm
Shift4 Payments
(FOUR).Earlier this month, Coinbase reported a strong second quarter as trading volume and transaction revenue continued to build, although the treatment of cryptocurrencies as investments continues to be an issue among lawmakers. At the recent trading price, Coinbase stock is up 5.8% from the reference price of $250 when it began trading.
Inside Scoop is a regular Barron’s feature covering stock transactions by corporate executives and board members—so-called insiders—as well as large shareholders, politicians, and other prominent figures. Due to their insider status, these investors are required to disclose stock trades with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory groups.
Write to Ed Lin at edward.lin@barrons.com and follow @BarronsEdLin.