Coinbase has stepped up its efforts to expand its services to cater for institutional clients by acquiring One River Digital Asset Management.
One River Digital Asset Management, an institutional-grade digital asset manager, has just been acquired by cryptocurrency exchange giant Coinbase (COIN). Observation from Coinbase:
“Coinbase and ORDAM share an ethos grounded in prudent risk management, a trait which has enabled both firms to successfully navigate the recent market turmoil.”
The crypto exchange purchased the hedge fund with a cryptocurrency focus that is registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in an effort to broaden the latter’s offerings to include institutional-based crypto services.
Eric Peters founded One River Asset Management in 2013, which serves as the acquiring company’s parent company. Although being renamed Coinbase Asset Management, Peters will continue to serve as its CEO and chief investment officer and the business will continue to be run independently.
The crypto exchange admitted that it had been in talks to buy the business for about a year, but it withheld information about other aspects of the agreement, such as the price at which it had paid for the firm.
One River Digital received money from Goldman Sachs and Coinbase in its series A funding round, two financial behemoths with whom the crypto exchange has had a long-standing relationship.
In February 2022, both businesses collaborated to develop a platform that gives wealth managers the tools they need to offer cryptocurrency services to their institutional clientele.
After hearing that the crypto exchange had severed relations with the struggling Silver Gate Bank due to the Bank’s exposure to the FTX contagion, and that the Bank was in danger of going out of business, the transaction was announced shortly after.
