Coinbase stock hits record low close as insiders continue dumping shares

Coinbase's share price suffered its lowest close ever this week, while company execs continue to award themselves massive paydays.

Coinbase stock suffered its lowest close ever on Wednesday as the top crypto exchange’s share price continues to slide, alongside tepid Bitcoin and Ether trade.

Coinbase’s stock closed at $219.50, having lost 1% for the day and nearly 12% over the year-to-date.

The Delaware-headquartered firm’s previous lowest close occurred on July 19 last year when it sank to $220.61. Coinbase is yet to break its record intraday low of $208, which it set last May.

In any case, Coinbase stock is now down more than 42% since its NASDAQ direct listing last April.

Back then, the company’s share price briefly spiked 13% to hit $429.54 a few hours into its debut — still its intraday record high — before collapsing 24% to $328.28 by the session’s end.

Coinbase stock closed Wednesday almost 50% below that record high.

Coinbase now boasts a $47-billion market value. The company was worth $85 billion at the end of its first day of trade, representing $38 billion drained from its valuation in less than one year.

Indeed, an onslaught of insider stock sales has weighed heavily on Coinbase stock.

Coinbase execs won’t stop dumping stock

Unlike standard initial public offerings, new shares aren’t created during direct listings like the one Coinbase underwent last year.

Direct listings award company execs, employees, and other early investors a “liquidity event” in which they can cash in their stock. Simply put, they provide the shares for public trade.

Overall, Coinbase insiders like chief operating officer Emilie Choi and chief exec Brian Armstrong have now dumped just under $5.8 billion in company stock since its direct listing last April.

According to finance screener OpenInsider, director Fred Wilson has sold more stock than any other company insider.

Wilson has offloaded more than $3.6 billion in Coinbase stock to date, split between his personal sales and those channeled through a Union Street Ventures fund which he controls. All his sales occurred on Coinbase’s first day of trade.

Protos previously calculated Coinbase insiders had together sold vastly more stock than other tech companies that had underwent direct listings in the past few years.

In fact, in the first 145 days after their direct listings, Coinbase execs and other investors cashed in 40% more stock than those connected to Asana, Roblox, Palantir, and Slack combined.

More recently, co-founder Fred Ehsram sold stock worth more than $11 million in December, while chief product guy Surojit Chatterjee and chief accountant Jennifer Jones awarded themselves paydays respectively worth $2.5 million and $203,000 earlier this month.

No Coinbase insider has ever bought any company stock since its direct listing, according to public filings, despite its price nearly halving.

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