The cryptocurrency market is maturing rapidly as more sophisticated institutional participants enter the space. In fact, in the past few months over 100 hedge funds were created that exclusively invest in and trade cryptocurrency. Some of the world’s largest financial institutions have also recently announced their plans to begin trading cryptocurrency.
At Coinbase, we welcome these developments as they help accelerate the world’s adoption of cryptocurrency by bringing new capital, greater awareness, and additional infrastructure to the space. This movement requires institutional grade products and services, something Coinbase has been developing with leading institutions and which we are proud to formally launch today.
Coinbase Custody to Launch in Partnership with SEC-regulated Broker-Dealer
We have leveraged our 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.
If you’re an institution interested in a custody solution, sign up here to receive more information about Coinbase Custody.
Introducing Coinbase Markets
Coinbase already offers the deepest pool of liquidity to the largest number of participants in the cryptocurrency space. We intend to continue developing this electronic marketplace, known as Coinbase Markets, by opening a new engineering office in Chicago and cementing Coinbase as the leading cryptocurrency exchange.
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 process to occur, creating tighter markets, deeper liquidity, and increased certainty of execution.
We are 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 our Coinbase Markets team and enable us to continue offering the most performant and reliable cryptocurrency exchange. 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.
Launching Coinbase Prime
We are also excited to announce the launch of 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 we intend 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. We will also introduce platform improvements like multi-user permissions and whitelisted withdrawal addresses.
The Coinbase Prime trading interface.
We believe Coinbase Prime will accelerate adoption of cryptocurrency worldwide and we are excited to help institutions everywhere participate in this emerging asset class. To learn more or sign up as an institution, check out Coinbase Prime.
The Coinbase Institutional Coverage Group
We understand that institutions need more than great products, they need great service too. Our 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 our 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, this team will deliver a best-in-class client experience. We are proud to offer personalized white-glove service and help institutional investors navigate the increasingly complex world of cryptocurrency investing.
As institutions continue to enter the cryptocurrency market, we are committed to building the products and services that uniquely meet their needs. We believe our suite of products and dedicated Institutional Coverage group will accelerate the rate of institutional adoption and create a more mature and diverse market. If you’re interested joining the Coinbase Institutional team, check out our careers page.