On November 11, 2022, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Coinbase Ceo Brian Armstrong sold 30,000 or more Class A coinbase shares worth $1.6 million, reported by coinbase.
Brian Armstrong also converted Class B coinbase shares into Class A shares.
The Coinbase company first went public in April 2021, and its share was traded at $340; they closed their crypto prices at $55.53 yesterday.
Class A share vs. Class B share
Class A shares are also known as Common stocks, the vast majority of shares issued by a public company. Class A shares can be converted into more than one share of common stock. If, for example, a CEO owns 20,000 shares that can be converted into 50,000 of common stock, and the company is sold, the CEO essentially earns a profit off the combined share price of the 50,000 shares, according to Investopedia.
Whereas Class B refers to the shares of common stocks, Technically, a company can create various Class of shares if they wish to. It is understood that when there is more than one Class type, it is named Class A and Class B.
Priority of Class B payment in Low means if the company filed for bankruptcy, then Class A shareholders must pay first.
Brian Armstrong
Brian Armstrong is an American Businessman and Investor born on January 25, 1983. He is a Ceo of the cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase. Coinbase was founded by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam in 2018.
According to the Forbes report, Brian Armstrong owns about 19% of Coinbase shares, and Cofounder Fred Ehrsam owns 6% of shares, but he left the company in 2017 and serves on the board of directors; he’s also a billionaire. The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin is an American documentary featured by Brian Armstrong in 2020.
Coinbase’s share value closed at $55.53 on November 16; the total market-capped value of its stock is 12.60 billion USD. Coinbase’s lowest price reached $54.60 and the share price peaked at $58.00.
Conclusion
As Brian Armstrong has sold his $1.6 million of Class A shares and converted his Class B shares into Class A, maybe he is avoiding risk because once he became the victim of FTX’s solvency crisis.
Because according to the rules of Class A and Class B shares, Class A shares are the priority to pay first if the company got bankrupt