from Hacker News

Brian Armstrong sold $291.8M in Coinbase shares on opening day

by not_knuth on 4/19/21, 7:01 AM with 85 comments

• by darawk on 4/19/21, 8:12 AM

  It was a direct listing. If insiders didn't sell their shares, there wouldn't be any to trade. He sold a very small fraction of his overall holdings.

• by erentz on 4/19/21, 8:07 AM

  This is apparently only 1.5% of his holdings. [1]

  [1] https://www.coindesk.com/coinbase-ceo-sold-291-8m-in-shares-...

• by possiblelion on 4/19/21, 8:08 AM

  In a direct listing they have to sell, otherwise there would not be any shares on the market.

• by mam3 on 4/19/21, 8:05 AM

  So what ? Id sell some part too if I was overnight a centimilionnaire.

  What am i supposed to do with this info ?

• by ArtTimeInvestor on 4/19/21, 8:48 AM

  One aspect of Coinbase I find interesting:

  Without the distorting action of governments printing money, interest rates might be set by market forces inside "crypto land".

  This might lead to a long term situation where artificially low interest rates are paid in government controlled currencies, but market prices are paid in crypto currencies.

  If this leads to a mass adoption of crypto-lending, then Coinbase might be where people hold their funds. Because it is even more complicated to stake coins than it is to just hold coins.

  Are there any forums on the internet where a serious discussion about these types of topics can be held?

• by ArtTimeInvestor on 4/19/21, 8:44 AM

  Do I understand it correctly, that the DPO did not put any money into the company?

  If so, it was a pure "Here, we built something valuable. You can have it now if you pay enough" kind of deal with the investors?

  Somehow this type of transaction always makes me feel a bit strange about the value of a company. Not sure if this is a rational thing or not. I think "Why did they bring it to the market at all?". What is the rationale for taking a profitable company that does not need additional funding public?

• by andy_ppp on 4/19/21, 8:56 AM

  How much is YC worth at this point, it’s crazy how many of the businesses they sponsor end up pre-eminent in their sector despite huge competition.

• by jcims on 4/19/21, 8:11 AM

  Good for him IMHO. Anyone in here know how capital gains work with that kind of sale? Would he be taxed on the full amount?

• by companyhen on 4/19/21, 8:17 AM

  That is how a direct listing works.

  Too bad HN users hated on him in 2012 when looking for a co-founder instead of having an open mind.

• by fasicle on 4/19/21, 8:06 AM

  What percentage of his total shares is this?

• by herpderperator on 4/19/21, 8:05 AM

  Is that normally possible/allowed? What about the lockup period, doesn't that apply for 6 months?

• by gogopuppygogo on 4/19/21, 8:06 AM

  Good for him. Paper wealth is not real wealth if markets change and valuations drop. Glad he put something in the bank. Founders deserve a win.

• by asdev on 4/19/21, 8:49 AM

  why is this news and getting upvotes? it was 1.5% of his stake. People here really want to FUD anything crypto related in any way possible

• by cblconfederate on 4/19/21, 9:00 AM

  this is good for binance