Silvergate Capital tanks as board member dumps shares

Shares of Silvergate Capital (NYSE:SI) are in freefall this week, while the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, has revealed a large liquidation of company stock by board member Thomas Dircks. 

The security regulator’s Form 4 documentation shows Dircks sold 60,000 Class A Common Stock over eight transactions on Dec. 8. The largest transaction was the disposal of 37,192 shares at a price of $40.72.

In total, the sales netted Dircks over $2.4 million.

Dircks is listed as a member of the board for Silvergate Bank, which provides lending and deposit services for “innovative businesses in fintech and cryptocurrency.” He is also a managing director to Charterhouse Strategic Partners, which invests in numerous ventures from cryptocurrency to healthcare and up to wireless infrastructure.

Dircks, who is listed as a 10% owner in Silvergate via Charter Digital and a "family foundation," appears to have initiated the sale shortly after SI reached new all-time highs earlier in the week.  

Silvergate closed at $44.53 on Monday, the eve of the dump, which was a new all-time high. It has since declined 16.4% over two trading days, including an 8.9% fall on Wednesday where it closed at $37.21. Year-to-date, SI has more than doubled. At its peak, it was up nearly three times since the start of 2020. 

The sale triggered heavy volatility in SI stock on Wednesday, with trade volumes more than three times higher than normal. 

As Cointelegraph reports, Silvergate went public in Nov 2019 following a successful IPO. At the time, the company boasted of more than 750 cryptocurrency customers.