Intercontinental Exchange Sells 1.4% Coinbase Stakes for $1.2 Billion

Fazzaco learned that Atlanta-headquartered futures exchange, Intercontinental Exchange(ICE), has sold 1.4 percent stake in the Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase for $1.2 billion. 

According to Scott Hill, CFO of ICE, after taxes, the sell-off resulted in approximately $900 million in gains. The proceeds from the sale will be used to pay off debts ahead of the schedule.

Back to January 2015, Coinbase has closed its $75 million Series C funding round with participation of NYSE, the subsidiary of ICE. The investment turned out to be a great success as the returns came in many-fold.

Another ICE-owned cryptocurrency exchange, Bakkt, is nearing a public listing as well. Bakkt was launched in 2018 and serves as a digital asset marketplace. According to Hill, Bakkt’s merger with SPAC, Victory Park Capital Impact Holdings, is expected to be completed in the second quarter. The group expect Q2 adjusted operating expenses to be in the range of $742 million to $752 million, including approximately $35 million of additional expense related to Bakkt.

As Fazzaco reported earlier, ICE posted its financial results for the first quarter of 2021, showing solid growth across all key metrics. Net revenues of the exchange for the first quarter were up 15 percent to $1.8 billion compared to the same period in 2020. In addition, the group rolled out ultra-low latency wireless market data services ​in the London metro area and Frankfurt by ICE Global Network (IGN).