Coinbase chief executive Brian Armstrong recently sold over $1.6 million in shares, according to an SEC filing.
According to reports, Brian Armstrong has sold more than $1.6 million worth of Coinbase shares. A regulatory filing discloses that the Coinbase chief executive sold more than 30,000 Class A Coinbase shares for $1.6 million on November 11th. Brian Armstrong also converted Coinbase Class B shares into Class A shares.
When Coinbase first went public in April last year, the crypto exchange’s shares traded at more than $340. However, its stock closed at $55.53 yesterday, mainly due to the general decline in crypto and traditional assets over the past year. Furthermore, the period has also seen inflation rise to new heights amid soaring energy prices. To curtail runaway inflation, the central banks of the US and Eurozone have hiked interest rates to record highs.
Beyond Brian Armstrong Coinbase Shares Story, Exchange Q3 Statement Takes Focus
Early in the month, Coinbase released its third-quarter earnings report, which reflected the impact of the stifling crypto marketplace. For the period ended September 30th, the leading American crypto exchange managed to pull in a relatively tame $590 million in revenue. This figure sat some way off the consensus estimate of $654 million for the same period and translated to a 50% loss year-over-year (YoY). In addition, the company lost $2.43 per share in Q3 compared to the $2.40 projected by analysts.
Coinbase also reported decreased third-quarter trading volume for popular digital currencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). Bitcoin accounted for 31% of trading volume for the quarter, while ETH constituted 33%.
Although Coinbase’s monthly transacting users (MTUs) in the third quarter declined from the preceding month, it surpassed analysts’ estimates. After recording 9.2 million users in Q1 and 9 million in the subsequent quarter, the exchange did 8.5 million MTUs for its latest quarterly outing. This figure compares favorably with the substantially lower consensus estimate of 7.84 million for the same period. Coinbase further projects that its fourth-quarter MTU will come in below 9 million.
Coinbase Price Target Cut to $41
In other recent Coinbase news, the prominent exchange saw its price target cut to $41 by Goldman Sachs following the FTX crash. However, the banking giant maintained that Coinbase remains insulated against any debilitating effects of the FTX fallout. At the time, Armstrong also underscored the importance of Coinbase’s commitment to staying as foolproof as possible. Highlighting the exchange’s ongoing pursuit of prudence and transparency, the Coinbase chief executive officer explained:
“We decided early on to be the most trusted crypto company out there, and the events of the [FTX tailspin and subsequent crash] underscore why this has been so important. We’ll continue to work with regulators around the world and help build trusted and reliable products for the industry.”
The crypto landscape was shaken by the sudden and dramatic collapse of the Bahamian-based exchange FTX. At the time of its implosion, FTX was the second-largest crypto exchange in the world.
Tolu is a cryptocurrency and blockchain enthusiast based in Lagos. He likes to demystify crypto stories to the bare basics so that anyone anywhere can understand without too much background knowledge.
When he’s not neck-deep in crypto stories, Tolu enjoys music, loves to sing and is an avid movie lover.
