Coinbase reportedly considered adopting a Bitcoin investment playbook like Michael Saylor’s Strategy on multiple occasions, but decided against it each time out of fear that it would kill the firm’s crypto exchange, Bloomberg reported.
“There were definitely moments over the last 12 years where we thought, man, should we put 80% of our balance sheet into crypto — into Bitcoin specifically,” Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong told Bloomberg in a May 9 video call.
Armstrong said the Bitcoin (BTC) strategy could have risked the company’s cash position and potentially killed the crypto exchange. “We made a conscious choice about risk,” he added.
Coinbase Chief Financial Officer Alesia Haas, who also attended the video call, added that the firm didn’t want to be seen as directly competing against its customers over which cryptocurrencies would outperform.
“Rest assured, we are not stopping there,” Haas said, as Coinbase reported purchasing another $153 million worth of crypto assets in its first quarter results statement on May 8, which was primarily concentrated in Bitcoin.
According to BitcoinTreasuries.net, Coinbase holds 9,480 Bitcoin — worth $988 million at current market prices — which makes up the majority of its $1.3 billion crypto asset holdings.
Armstrong’s crypto exchange is the ninth-largest corporate Bitcoin holder, trailing the likes of Strategy, Bitcoin miner MARA Holdings and Tesla.
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Several companies have begun copying Saylor’s Bitcoin playbook, funding purchases through stock and debt sales on the bet that Bitcoin’s price appreciation will boost their share prices.
Over 100 public companies have now reported holding Bitcoin around the world, while another 40 exchange-traded fund issuers, 26 private firms and 12 nation states have also reported holding the cryptocurrency.
Coinbase deepens derivative offerings through Deribit acquisition
On May 8, Coinbase agreed to acquire crypto derivatives platform Deribit for $2.9 billion, marking the industry’s largest corporate acquisition to date.
The acquisition will expand Coinbase’s footprint in the crypto derivatives market immensely, which previously had been limited to its Bermuda-based platform.
Coinbase noted that Deribit facilitated over $1 trillion in trading volume in 2024 and has around $30 billion of current open interest.
The deal now makes Coinbase the “global leader” in crypto derivatives trading, the firm said.
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