Coinbase Global (Nasdaq: COIN) shares ended October more than 56% below their closing price at the start of November 2025, while several Wall Street firms have cut their targets on the stock.
Coinbase Global (Nasdaq: COIN) shares ended October more than 56% below their closing price at the start of November 2025, while several Wall Street firms have cut their targets on the stock.
CEO Brian Armstrong adopted a prearranged trading plan on Aug. 12 that allows him to sell up to 8,167,446 shares of Coinbase's Class A common stock, according to the company's quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), published Oct. 29.
The filing lists an estimated start date of Nov. 16, 2026, and an end date of Oct. 22, 2027. The plan can end earlier if its transactions are completed or certain other events specified in the plan occur.
At the stock's Oct. 30 closing price of $143.54, the maximum share count represents about $1.17 billion in gross stock value, not guaranteed proceeds or Armstrong's net gain after option exercise costs and taxes. The shares would come from exercising vested stock options.
Mark Cuban offers blunt response to Coinbase CEO (2:22)Sales under this newly disclosed plan are not scheduled to begin before its estimated Nov. 16 start date. The disclosure describes possible future transactions, not completed sales.
Armstrong's plan is a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, a prearranged schedule that lets company insiders sell stock automatically, on dates and at prices set in advance. A qualifying plan can provide an affirmative defense against insider-trading liability, subject to conditions including adoption without material nonpublic information, good faith and a required cooling-off period.
Sales under Armstrong's plan will only go through if Coinbase's share price reaches certain thresholds spelled out in the plan. The filing does not disclose what those prices are.
Coinbase does not allow its directors and officers to trade company stock outside such plans at all, the filing says.
Armstrong set up his plan on Aug. 12, when the stock closed at $149.04. The plan was adopted more than two months before the Oct. 29 quarterly filing.
Two more senior Coinbase figures adopted similar plans in early September, the filing shows.
Fred Ehrsam, Coinbase's co-founder and a board member, adopted a plan on Sept. 4 covering up to 3,866,620 shares, representing about $555 million at the Oct. 30 closing price. The estimated window runs from Dec. 7, 2026, to June 7, 2027. His shares would be Class A shares issued upon conversion of Class B shares held by his living trust.
Emilie Choi, the company's president and chief operating officer, adopted a plan on Sept. 8. The filing lists up to 1,560,453 shares, plus an undetermined number from future equity awards, with an estimated window from Jan. 4 to Dec. 31, 2027.
The 1,560,453 figure excludes shares from restricted stock units not yet granted and does not subtract prior-plan sales or future tax withholding and mandatory tax sales. Those additions and deductions mean it is not a fixed ceiling; the exact number depends on future events.
For scale, Armstrong's maximum share count equals about 3.1% of Coinbase's 264.8 million Class A and Class B shares outstanding as of Oct. 22. That is a comparison with the company's outstanding share count, not the percentage of Armstrong's personal holdings being sold.
The timing of the disclosures puts a spotlight on a rough stretch for the stock.
Coinbase shares closed at $143.54 on Oct. 30, according to StockAnalysis data. That was down 36.5% from the last close of 2025. The stock closed at $330.42 on Nov. 3, 2025, its highest close over the following 12 months through Oct. 30. The Oct. 30 close was 56.6% below that level.
The latest leg down came after Coinbase reported third-quarter results on Oct. 29. The stock fell 10.6% the next day to $143.54 on heavy volume.
The same filing's results also showed total revenue fell 35% from a year earlier to $1.22 billion, and operating income dropped to $61.7 million from $480.5 million.
Coinbase reported net income of $718.7 million, or $2.72 per basic share and $2.51 per diluted share. Its pretax results included $715 million in net gains on crypto assets held for investment.
Bitcoin traded near $77,600 when checked on the morning of Nov. 2, according to CoinGecko. That is about 38% below the $126,080 all-time high posted on Oct. 6 last year, as listed by the same data provider.
Analysts have grown more cautious as the price has fallen, though they are not uniform.
On Oct. 28, Bernstein cut its Coinbase price target to $250 from $330 and said it now expects the company to post a full-year loss of $2.60 per share, TheStreet reported. The analysts wrote that they "no longer assume any bullish crypto price action" in their estimates.
JPMorgan raised its target to $189 from $148 on Oct. 26, but cut it to $187 on Oct. 30 after the results, while keeping an Overweight rating.
Earlier in October, Bank of America raised its target to $203, Goldman Sachs lifted its own to $244 and called the price "an attractive valuation entry point," while Citizens trimmed its target to $280, TheStreet reported.
Goldman Sachs subsequently cut its target to $210 from $244 on Oct. 30 while keeping a Buy rating, according to analyst updates. These targets are forecasts, not the undisclosed triggers in Armstrong's plan; sales require the actual share price to meet the plan's thresholds.
The first date to watch is Nov. 16, the estimated start of Armstrong's selling window, subject to the plan's conditions.
Actual sales by these officers and directors generally must be reported on a Form 4 by the end of the second business day after execution, under the SEC's reporting rules.
Until then, the 10b5-1 disclosures only tell investors what insiders may do, not what they will do.
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Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency investments are highly volatile and risky. Always conduct your own research before making any investment decisions.
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