Czech central bank makes first crypto investment with $20m Coinbase shares buy

The Czech central bank made its first investment into a crypto company by acquiring 51,732 Coinbase shares. At current market prices, the shares are now worth over $20 million.

This purchase marks the first investment made by the Czech National Bank into a crypto firm. According to a recent Form 13F filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the central bank bought shares of Coinbase Global on July 14.

At the time of purchase, the shares were valued at $18.13 million, amounting to 51,732 shares in total. Since the price closed on $387.06 per Coinbase share, the stocks bought by the central bank are now valued at $20 million on the stock market.

According to data from Google Finance, the Coinbase Global stock has increase by 55.88% on a year-to-date basis. The rise in stock price was fueled by a strong rally in crypto markets and the company acquiring major firms like Deribit in recent months.

Czech central bank’s recent purchase of Coinbase shares aligns with its ongoing strategy of delving into crypto assets and bridging the gap towards traditional finance.

As previously reported by crypto.news earlier this year, Governor of the Czech National Bank, Aleš Michl, expressed intentions to invest in Bitcoin by potentially allocating as much as 5% of the bank’s reserves into digital assets.

If the suggestion is approved, up to 5% of the Czech central bank’s €140 billion in reserves could be allocated into Bitcoin (BTC). At the time, Michl viewed the proposal as a positive step in diversifying the bank’s assets, especially through an asset like BTC. The proposal was lodged around the end of January and is still pending approval.

However, other central bank officials have pushed back against Michl’s proposal, citing legal uncertainties and the volatile nature of digital assets. Board member Jan Kubicek brought up Bitcoin’s extreme volatility that he says undermines it as an attractive central bank asset.

At the moment, the Czech central bank has not decided on a definitive ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the proposal. Instead, officials claim to still be mulling over BTC as a new asset class while they continue to study it.

Most recently, Coinbase announced that Opyn’s CEO Andrew Leone and Head of Research Joe Clark will be joining the company in a talent-focused acquisition. The move marks Coinbase’s recent efforts to bring traditional market functionality onto public ledgers.