What happened
Coinbase Global (COIN 5.68%) stock fell precipitously on Friday, and it wasn't hard to figure out why. Any company associated with the now-collapsed Silicon Valley Bank and its parent SVB Financial (SIVB.Q) took hard blows in the market today. Coinbase was a Silicon Valley Bank client back in the day, and the two companies' relationship went a little deeper at one point.
So what
So to some degree it was understandable that investors would trade out of Coinbase. Panic was in the air Friday in the wake of Silicon Valley Bank's disintegration and subsequent receivership by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The fallout was swift and sharp, and numerous companies were damaged by it.
Coinbase wasn't only a SVB client; it was also one of that company's potential shareholdings. In 2014, when cryptocurrency projects and crypto-affiliated businesses were having a tough time securing financing from traditional sources, Coinbase gave a stock warrant to Silicon Valley Bank. Apparently, this was part of the two companies' agreement under which Coinbase could utilize the bank's services.
The warrant gave Silicon Valley Bank the right to purchase over 400,000 shares of Coinbase's class B common stock at a price just over $1 apiece. The warrant was set to expire in June 2024. Its fate isn't entirely clear, but in SVB's latest 10K annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company revealed that in 2021 it reaped $116 million in gains "related to Coinbase's direct listing."
Coinbase went public via such a method in April 2021.
Now what
Investors shouldn't be swayed on Coinbase one way or another due to the SVB association. The two companies were tied fairly closely together at one point, but seem to have drifted far apart. Since the SVB contagion appears to be quite limited with Coinbase -- at least, as far as we know now -- the exchange operator's stock should be judged more on its own fundamentals and potential.
