Coinbase Chaos: CEO and Board Members Accused of Exploiting Insider Info in Billion-Dollar Lawsuit

A Coinbase Global, Inc COIN investor charged Chair and CEO Brian Armstrong, board member Marc Andreessen and other officers for dodging over $1 billion in losses via insider trading.
The Coinbase officials allegedly exploited insider information to sell stock within days of the cryptocurrency platform’s public listing two years ago, before bad news sent the share price plunging, Bloomberg reports.
Coinbase’s board deployed a direct listing instead of a typical initial public offering. It rapidly sold off $2.9 billion in stock before Coinbase management revealed material, negative information that destroyed market optimism from the company’s first quarterly earnings release forward.
Also Read: Bottoming Out or Bouncing Back? Analyst Revises Coinbase Estimates Amid USDC Woes
Within five weeks, those shares plunged by over $1 billion. Coinbase’s market capitalization plummeted by more than $37 billion, claimed the investor, Adam Grabski, who held Coinbase shares since April 2021.
Armstrong sold $291.8 million of Coinbase stock as part of the direct listing, while Andreessen’s venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz, dumped $118.6 million.
The lawsuit sought the return of “ill-gotten gains” from Armstrong and Andreessen, President Emilie Choi, CFO Alesia Hass, Chief Accounting Officer Jennifer Jones, and former Chief Product Officer Surojit Chatterjee and board members Frederick Ersham, Fred Wilson, and Kathryn Haun.
Price Action: COIN shares traded higher by 3.99% at $52.14 premarket on the last check Tuesday.

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