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- Hill said proceeds from the sale were used to stay ahead of schedule for debt payments.
- The timing of ICE’s sale of their COIN holdings suggests that they may have been part of the initial dump by major COIN investors.
- Coinbase’s market cap, following a debut on Nasdaq, exceeded $100 billion on April 14, 2021.
Intercontinental Exchange Inc (ICE), the New York Stock Exchange operator, sold 1.4% of its stake in Coinbase for a whopping $1.2 billion.
Scott Hill, ICE chief financial officer, said the sale of the Coinbase shares generated $1.2 billion pre-tax. Hill said proceeds from the sale were used to stay ahead of schedule for debt payments. In the first quarter of 2021, the exchange generated more than double its revenue from all of 2020.
The sale, as per Coindesk, happened amid all-time record revenues in a single quarter for the company. This comes amid analysts predicting volatility within the Coinbase IPO, particularly in its first days following a public listing.
Timing of ICE’s sale
Analysts highlight that the timing of ICE’s sale of their COIN holdings suggests that they may have been part of the initial dump by major COIN investors. Warren Gardiner, ICE’s vice president for investor relations, said the proceeds helped create “additional flexibility” for the remainder of 2021.
This, of course, is after cash generated from the Q1 was used to pay off $350 million in company debts, raise dividends by 10%, or was re-invested in the business.
Coinbase’s NASDAQ debut
Coinbase’s market cap, following a debut on Nasdaq, exceeded $100 billion on April 14, 2021. The shares, as per CNBC, opened at $381 and quickly shot up as high as $429.54 before falling back below the debut price. However, the price was still well above the reference price of $250.
The exchange had listed its stock directly, skirting the traditional IPO process. As such, it allowed employees and existing shareholders to sell shares immediately at a market-based price. Coinbase followed in the steps of tech companies like Slack, Spotify, and Roblox, which helped standardize the process.
Coinbase, established in 2012, has emerged as the most popular crypto exchange in the US. It has soared in value alongside digital currencies – bitcoin and ethereum. The exchange has a record of 56 million users.
Steve Anderson is an Australian crypto enthusiast. He is a specialist in management and trading for over 5 years. Steve has worked as a crypto trader, he loves learning about decentralisation, understanding the true potential of the blockchain.
