Coinbase enters $2.9B deal to acquire top Bitcoin, Ether options platform Deribit

Key Takeaways

Coinbase agreed to acquire Deribit for $2.9 billion, marking a major move into the crypto derivatives market.
The acquisition includes Deribit’s license in Dubai and follows increased industry consolidation.

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Coinbase has struck a $2.9 billion deal to take over Deribit, the leading trading platform for Bitcoin and Ether options, the firm said Thursday.

The move marks Coinbase’s most remarkable push into the crypto derivatives market. Deribit, offering options, futures, and spot trading services, saw its 2024 trading volumes nearly double to $1.2 trillion, driven by rising institutional activity post-US presidential election.

The deal, Coinbase’s largest ever, will be settled through a combination of $700 million in cash and 11 million shares of Coinbase Class A common stock, the report states. Shares of the company surged 5% in pre-market trading on Thursday, per Yahoo Finance data.

The financial terms follow an earlier Bloomberg report revealing Coinbase’s advanced-stage talks to acquire Deribit.

At the time, the deal was estimated to be valued between $4 billion and $5 billion and involved regulatory notifications in Dubai, where Deribit holds a license that would transfer with any acquisition.

Coinbase, which traditionally focused on spot trading, began offering derivatives through a Bermuda-based venue launched in 2023. The company recently reported that its fourth-quarter revenue more than doubled as retail trading activity rebounded.

Crypto consolidation accelerates as Coinbase, Kraken, and Ripple spend big

Leading crypto firms are stepping up acquisitions in a bid to dominate key parts of the digital asset market infrastructure.

The Trump administration, widely seen as pro-crypto and pro-business, has helped fuel a wave of consolidation across the digital asset industry. Trump has vowed to position the US as the global hub for crypto and a “Bitcoin superpower.”

In late March, Kraken announced it agreed to acquire NinjaTrader, a US retail futures platform, for $1.5 billion, one of the largest-ever mergers between traditional finance and crypto.

Ripple disclosed in April that it would acquire prime broker Hidden Road for $1.25 billion. Pending regulatory approval, the acquisition will enhance Ripple’s institutional product suite, support adoption of its RLUSD stablecoin, and deepen integration of the XRP Ledger for scalable institutional finance.

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