Prior to SEC Warning, CEO Sells Shares

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ust before the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a warning to Coinbase, CEO Brian Armstrong sold thousands of shares on March 15th and 21st, as revealed by recent data.

Just ahead of a cautionary alert from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong sold off his Coinbase shares, as uncovered by crypto detective @theirish_man on Twitter.

Ever since November 2022, Armstrong has had a pattern of selling off his stocks. Nevertheless, the three deals he clinched just before the SEC alert came out sent Coinbase's stock prices plummeting by 10%, and this did not go unnoticed by those in the know.

Armstrong's recent sales activity suggests that he had an inside track of the upcoming SEC warning – as four transactions were facilitated in March alone! In total, 89,196 Coinbase shares valued at $5,871,561 were sold by him. Notably, almost half of this sum was disposed within mere hours before the SEC made their announcement public.

On March 21st, Armstrong registered two sales for the share price of $75.31 and $75.51 respectively. The SEC alert published on Mar 22nd caused a drastic decrease in value by 10%, leaving Coinbase stocks at an estimated rate of $77.14 - signifying 8% loss over the last 24 hours alone.

Since November of 2022, Armstrong has been steadily selling Coinbase shares. He started with two transactions monthly in both November and December, then increased the amount sold to three a month during February and March. The data suggests he is continuing that pattern of consistent sales since then.

On March 22nd, the SEC issued Coinbase a Wells notice—a warning sign that indicates their intention to begin formal enforcement actions against the exchange. The filing pointed out specific parts of their main trading platform and other related services like Coinbase Prime and Wallet as potential targets for punishment. This is an important step by the SEC in attempting to regulate cryptocurrency exchanges more strictly.

Initially, Coinbase expressed its assurance in their services and declared that they are open to a lawful process to address the SEC's warning. The cryptocurrency community further exhibited its support for Coinbase by uniting together behind them. Notable crypto leaders started debating if the SEC was trying deliberately to limit progress within this space.

Jonathan

An editor at Coincrop

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Jonathan is a Coincrop staff writer based in the UK, covering the best rates for cryptocurrency earning and borrowing products. When not at work, he's likely sailing.