Brian Armstrong Reduces His Shareholding In Coinbase (COIN)

In a recent development, Coinbase (COIN) CEO Brian Armstrong has reduced his shareholding in the crypto exchange. Armstrong has reported the offloading of nearly $5 million worth of COIN shares on Thursday, July 12. Moreover, the dump could have catalyzed the recent downturn in the COIN stock.

Brian Armstrong Dumps Coinbase Shares

According to a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Brian Armstrong sold 23,075 shares of Coinbase stock, valued at approximately $4.92 million, on Thursday. This sale has resulted in a notable impact on the company’s stock price, with COIN shares experiencing a significant decline in the aftermath of the transaction. On the day of the sale, COIN stock closed at $214.63, marking a 2.25% decrease from its previous close.

The news of Armstrong’s stock sale appeared to have a bearish influence on the market, contributing to the decline. However, by the following day, Friday, July 12, the COIN stock showed signs of recovery. The stock registered a slight gain of 0.85% in pre-market trading and reaching $216.46.

Despite these sales, Armstrong continues to hold a substantial number of shares in Coinbase. However, the continued offloading has depleted in stake in COIN lately. This is not the first time in recent months that Armstrong has sold shares in Coinbase. In early June, he reportedly offloaded COIN stock worth $5.3 million.

In addition, Armstrong also dumped $5.9 million of COIN shares in April this year. Coinbase, which went public in April 2021, has experienced considerable fluctuations in its stock price. In addition, insider trading has mostly impacted Coinbase stock price.

Also Read: Coinbase Launches Web App to Unify User Crypto Experience

Company Earnings For Q2

Coinbase is expected to announce its earnings report on August 1, 2024. Although this date is based on past reporting trends, it may change once Coinbase officially confirms the earnings release date. As this date nears, analysts on Wall Street are forecasting notable shifts in the company’s financial performance.

Recently, Zacks Investment Research reported that seven analysts have provided forecasts for Coinbase’s upcoming quarter, predicting an average earnings per share (EPS) of $1.13. This projection represents an impressive 369.05% increase from the previous year’s EPS of -$0.42 for the same quarter. However, despite this significant year-over-year improvement, the forecast suggests a substantial quarter-over-quarter decline of 31%, given that the EPS was $1.65 in the first quarter of fiscal year 2024.

The projected decrease is mainly due to reduced trading volumes in the cryptocurrency market, influenced by a notable drop in Bitcoin (BTC) prices. Bitcoin’s price fell sharply from a high of $72,000 in April to around $53,000 recently, impacted by the German government‘s selloff and repayments from Mt. Gox. In addition, Bitcoin is again struggling with a downturn at $57,000.

Also Read: Coinbase Ventures Buys 4.7 Million Tokens Of This Project: Nansen