Coinbase Inc. Chairman and CEO Brian Armstrong, board member Marc Andreessen, and other executives used inside information to sell shares within days of the cryptocurrency platform going public two years ago. and avoided a loss of more than $1 billion. Declining prices, according to lawsuits filed by investors.
The company’s board rolled out a so-called direct listing instead of a more typical initial public offering, and after a rapid sale of $2.9 billion in shares, Coinbase management said, “The company’s first quarterly earnings call ‘important and negative information that will subvert market optimism since then. According to the complaint opened Monday in Delaware Chancery Court.
“Within five weeks, the value of these stocks fell by more than $1 billion, and Coinbase’s market cap plummeted by more than $37 billion,” said an investor who has held Coinbase shares since April 2021. ‘s Adam Grabsky claimed.
According to the complaint, Armstrong sold $291.8 million of its Coinbase stake as part of the direct listing, while Andreessen’s venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz, sold $118.6 million worth of shares.
“As the most popular and only listed cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, we are subject to frivolous lawsuits from time to time,” Coinbase said in an emailed statement. “This is one example of his baseless allegations.”
So-called derivative lawsuits filed on behalf of the company include Armstrong and Andreessen, President Emily Choi, Chief Financial Officer Alecia Hass, Chief Accounting Officer Jennifer Jones, and former Chief Product Officer Slojit Chatterjee. We are seeking the return of “unjustly obtained profits” from Board members Frederick Arsham, Fred Wilson and Kathryn Haun.
This lawsuit was derived by Grabski on behalf of Coinbase Global Inc. v. Andreessen. Case No. 2023-0464-KSJM, Court, Delaware.
Photo: Coinbase logo on a laptop computer located in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, USA, Tuesday, January 5, 2021. Photo credit: Tiffany Hagler-Geard/Bloomberg
Copyright 2023 Bloomberg.
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