Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has been on a tear this year, with its shares up more than 400% since going public in April. The San Francisco-based company’s market value is now north of $100 billion, making it one of the most valuable startUPS in the world.
Not everyone is happy about Coinbase’s success, though. The company has been criticized for its high fees, lack of customer support, and insider trading allegations.
But despite all the criticism, Coinbase is still going strong and its users are getting richer.
So, who exactly is getting rich from Coinbase?
The answer is both simple and complicated. On the one hand, there are the early investors and employees who were smart enough to bet on Bitcoin when it was still an unknown entity.
On the other hand, there are the more recent investors who have benefited from Coinbase’s stratospheric rise this year.
The early investors include people like Fred Ehrsam, who co-founded Coinbase in 2012. Ehrsam was an early investor in Bitcoin and he cashed out a significant portion of his holdings when Coinbase went public.
He’s now worth an estimated $1.3 billion.
Another early investor is Brian Armstrong, Coinbase’s CEO. Armstrong owns about 8% of the company and his stake is now worth around $8 billion.
He also owns a significant amount of Bitcoin, which is worth even more than his Coinbase shares.
Then there are the employees who have made a killing from Coinbase’s success. Many of them own stock options that have skyrocketed in value this year.
For example, an engineer at Coinbase who joined in 2013 has options that are now worth over $100 million.
Finally, there are the more recent investors who have benefited from Coinbase’s incredible run this year. These include people like Marc Andreessen, a well-known venture capitalist, and Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal.
Both men invested in Coinbase earlier this year and their stakes are now worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
So there you have it: a mix of early investors, employees, and recent investors who are all getting very rich from Coinbase’s success. It’s a classic Silicon Valley story and it’s only just beginning.