Coinbase stock price is down nearly 85% from its all-time high of $348.98 on Nov. 12, 2021.
Making the third investment in two months and fourth since November, Ark Invest acquired $9.2 million worth of COIN shares on Friday, media reports claimed.
In the latest round, the investment firm bought 162,325 COIN shares. In the previous two, on January 5 and 12, the company accumulated $5.8 million and $3.3 million worth of Coinbase shares, respectively. In December, Ark Invest bought $11.9 million worth of COIN.
On January 5, the day Ark Invest made its first major purchase of COIN shares this year, the stock closed the day down 11% at $33.53, while the next day, January 6, hit an all-time low of $31.95, suggesting that Ark Invest’s timing couldn’t have been better than this. The Jan. 12 purchase of COIN shares was made at $43.79 per share, and it came at a time when all the major BTC-led crypto assets were on the road to recovery.
Kraken Fears Pull COIN Down
After rising to $81 on February 2, nearly 95% in a month, Coinbase shares are once again on a downward spiral, particularly after the SEC crackdown on Kraken for offering “unregistered securities” in the participation services.
COIN closed down 14.13% on Thursday, the day Kraken announced the closure of its staking services for US investors, at $59.63 after starting at $68.51%.
Cryptocurrencies have found themselves in the crosshairs of regulatory authorities for their staking services after Kraken was fined $30 million by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for offering unregistered staking services in the US.
Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, has stated that the cryptocurrency exchange is willing to go to court to defend its own staking offer, and Wood has also spoken out about the actions of the Securities and Exchange Commission, tweeting the following:
“So, activity moves to offshore exchanges or to self-custody, self-sovereignty, and self-control? Decentralization wins. Great! Given regulatory arbitration, however, US exchanges lose to foreign exchanges, not so good for US competitiveness in the crypto revolutions, in my view.”
Recession Impact on Coinbase
Coinbase, hit by the market downturn, has cut its headcount by more than 2,000 since June 2022. The first round of layoffs came in June, when 18% or 1,100 employees were laid off, while on January 10, 1,100 employees were let go.
On Jan. 26, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), the central bank of the Netherlands, reportedly fined Coinbase $3.6 million for failing to register its services in the country between November 2020 and August 2022.
Priced at $250, Coinbase shares were listed on Nasdaq on April 14, 2021. Gaining over 31%, COIN closed the opening day at over $328. Right now, the stock is trading almost 85% below its all-time high of $348.98.
By Audy Castaneda
