Coinbase CEO sold nearly 30 000 shares of the company a day before the SEC’s lawsuit

After that, the price of COIN collapsed by almost 20% overnight

09.06.2023 - 12:30

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3 min

What’s new? The CEO of US crypto exchange Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, sold 29 730 shares of the company on June 5, exactly one day before the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against the platform for an unregistered securities offering. This is evidenced by the beneficial ownership change statements published on the SEC’s website.

The SEC’s filings

What else is known? Coinbase (COIN) shares are traded on the Nasdaq stock exchange. As of June 9, they are trading at $54,90, up by 3,08% in the last 24 hours, according to TradingView. Meanwhile, from June 5 to June 6, their value fell by 19,48%, dropping from $58,26 to $46,91 per share.

The head of Coinbase has been selling shares on a regular basis since November 2022 under the August 10b5-1 plan, which predetermines the timing and size of transactions. That said, Armstrong’s trades have not always been profitable. According to Cointelegraph, the day after the SEC lawsuit, Coinbase CEO lost 11,8% of his fortune, his capital dropped to $2,2 billion (1409th place in the Forbes ranking).

SEC case against Coinbase. On June 6, the SEC filed a lawsuit against the exchange for offering unregistered securities. The regulator also alleged that the platform has never been registered as a broker, national securities exchange, or clearing agency.

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In an interview with Bloomberg, Armstrong expressed confidence that the exchange would win the case in court and stressed that Coinbase has more than $5 billion on its balance sheet to support ongoing operations and cover legal costs.

Armstrong also later said that the company has no plans to give up its staking service and will not delist the cryptocurrencies listed as securities in the SEC’s lawsuit.

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