The US crypto exchange Coinbase had a fairly good performance after its direct listing on Nasdaq last week, settling at over 30% from its reference price of $250. The direct listing coincided with a rise in Bitcoin’s price, though the stock itself has remained stable. It’s selling at the price of $344 at the time of publishing. CEO Brian Armstrong himself sold about $291.8 million in shares.
CEO and early investors sold roughly $5 billion in stock on opening day.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong sold 749,999 shares in three sessions when COIN was trading between $381 and $410. That equates to about 1.5% of his stake in the company. Coinbase director Fred Wilson sold 4.7 million in shares for a total of $1.8 billion. Fellow director Marc Andreessen sold 1.18 million shares in conjunction with Andreessen Horowitz and two related entities. The total sum of stocks sold by all holders amounts to just under $5 billion. Selling these shares to the public is a way to increase liquidity.
The ARK investment group has purchased an additional $68 million of COIN shares.
The ARK investment group announced that it had purchased an additional $68 million of COIN shares after initially buying $246 million worth of shares on the day of the listing. Investors are generally optimistic about Coinbase’s potential performance, as the crypto market has just begun to hit mainstream appeal. The Coinbase listing and the arrival of numerous institutional products have convinced hesitant investors to invest. This has, in turn, increased the bottom price and has sparked a knock-on effect that has reached the public. Analysts have hailed Coinbase’s public listing on Nasdaq as a landmark moment for the market, and the crypto community also appears generally happy with the mainstream exposure it is bringing.
