Coinbase Announces Institutional Suite of Products and Adds Chicago Office to Better Serve Institutions

CHICAGO and SAN FRANCISCO, May 15, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Coinbase today announced new product offerings for institutions, designed to better meet their rapidly growing demand to trade and invest in cryptocurrency. In the past few months, over 100 hedge funds announced plans to trade and invest in cryptocurrency, signaling heightened interest from institutional clients and financial services professionals for a source of liquidity and custody for their digital assets.

The company will launch Coinbase Custody, a cryptocurrency custodian in partnership with an SEC-regulated broker-dealer, to a group of initial clients that include the leading institutions in the crypto industry. New product offerings announced today also include Coinbase Prime, a suite of tools and services specifically designed for institutions, and enhancements to Coinbase Markets that will be driven by an engineering team out of the newly opened Chicago office. Finally, Coinbase is announcing an institutional coverage group headquartered in New York City to provide the highest level of service to clients.

"There is clear demand from institutional clients and financial services professionals for more specific solutions with regard to cryptocurrencies that address their sophisticated needs," said Adam White, Vice President and General Manager of Coinbase Institutional. "Through new products like Coinbase Prime and Coinbase Custody, we're building the necessary capability for institutions that allows cryptocurrencies to be traded and stored in a compliant, trusted and efficient manner."

Coinbase Custody to launch in partnership with SEC-regulated broker-dealer
Coinbase has leveraged the company's deep experience safely storing more than $20 billion of cryptocurrency to create Coinbase Custody, the most secure crypto storage solution available. In partnership with an SEC-regulated broker-dealer, Coinbase Custody is proud to offer a service that couples Coinbase's cryptocurrency security excellence with third-party auditing and financial reporting validation that operates at the high standard of an SEC-regulated, custodial broker-dealer.

Our Coinbase Custody launch partners are all leading institutions in the crypto industry, including 1confirmation, Autonomous Partners, Boost VC, MetaStable, Multicoin Capital, Polychain Capital, Scalar Capital and Walden Bridge Capital.

"We're very familiar with the need for trusted, institutional custody in the crypto space and are excited to partner with Coinbase to help bring this to market," said Kyle Samini, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Multicoin Capital.

"Coinbase has an impeccable record of secure crypto storage. Polychain is excited to partner with them to bring both security and regulatory clarity to our investors," said Olaf Carlson-Wee, Founder and CEO Polychain Capital.

New Chicago office to execute Coinbase Markets product development
Coinbase is making a major investment in Chicago through a new engineering office that will focus on further developing Coinbase Markets, the premier electronic marketplace for cryptocurrencies. Coinbase already offers the deepest pool of liquidity to the largest number of participants in the cryptocurrency space and will continue developing Coinbase Markets by opening a new engineering office in Chicago.

Coinbase Markets provides a centralized pool of liquidity for all Coinbase products. Over the course of the year Coinbase Markets will introduce new features like low latency performance, on-premise datacenter colocation services, institutional connectivity and access, and settlement and clearing services. These additions will allow for a more efficient price discovery to occur, creating tighter markets, deeper liquidity, and increased certainty of execution.

Coinbase is thrilled to open an office in Chicago and have access to a large talent pool of engineers with deep exchange infrastructure experience. This office will serve as the home for the Coinbase Markets team and enable Coinbase to continue offering the most performant and reliable cryptocurrency exchange.

"As a global leader in financial technology, Chicago welcomes innovative companies investing in our city and creating jobs for Chicago residents," said Mayor Rahm Emanuel. "There is no better city than Chicago for companies that want to put down roots and grow their businesses."

"As leaders in innovation and technology, Chicago and Coinbase are perfectly suited in working together to help shape the present and future of digital currency," said Paul Bauerschmidt, Product Lead, Coinbase Markets. "Chicago is an ideal location for our newest Coinbase office and we hope our investment will continue to position the city as a growing hub for technological innovation. We look forward to adding talented engineers who are motivated by our mission to create an open financial system for the world."

Coinbase Prime—A new product experience designed specifically for institutions
Coinbase is announcing Coinbase Prime, a new platform designed specifically to provide a suite of tools and services that institutional investors rely on when trading cryptocurrency.

This product will fill a missing piece of critical infrastructure needed for institutions. Over the course of the year Coinbase intends to offer lending and margin financing products to qualified clients, high touch and low touch execution services like over-the-counter (OTC) trading and algorithmic orders and new market data and research products. Coinbase will also introduce platform improvements like multi-user permissions and whitelisted withdrawal addresses.

Coinbase Prime will accelerate adoption of cryptocurrency worldwide by helping institutions everywhere participate in this emerging asset class. To learn more or sign up as an institution, please visit Coinbase Prime.

The Coinbase Institutional Coverage Group
Coinbase understands that institutions need more than great products, they need great service too. The Coinbase Institutional Coverage group is focused exclusively on serving the needs of institutional clients by providing sales, sales trading, research, market operations and client services support. This group, headquartered in the Coinbase New York City office, brings years of diverse and relevant institutional experience from firms such as the New York Stock Exchange, Morgan Stanley and the SEC and CFTC.

By guiding clients through the onboarding process and advising on execution strategies, the Coinbase Institutional Coverage Group will offer personalized white-glove service and help institutional investors navigate the increasingly complex world of crypto asset investing.

To learn more about Coinbase and its new products, services and offerings, please visit coinbase.com.

About Coinbase
Founded in June of 2012, Coinbase offers a suite of products to consumers, professional traders and institutions that make trading, investing and transacting in cryptocurrencies easy and secure. Coinbase strives to be the most trusted brand in the space, and has built the world's leading platform for cryptocurrencies serving over 20 million customers. The company is based in San Francisco, California with offices in Chicago, New York and London.

SOURCE Coinbase