“There were definitely moments over the last 12 years where we thought, should we put 80% of our balance sheet into Bitcoin,” said CEO Brian Armstrong during a May 9 video call. However, he added, “We made a conscious choice about risk,” noting that such a move could jeopardize the company’s cash reserves and potentially undermine its core exchange operations.

Avoiding Conflict with Customers

Coinbase CFO Alesia Haas explained the company also wanted to avoid appearing to compete with its customers over which cryptocurrencies would perform best. “We didn’t want to show bias toward any single asset,” she added.

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Despite this cautious stance, Coinbase is still actively buying crypto assets. In its Q1 2025 report, the company confirmed $153 million in new crypto purchases, mostly concentrated in Bitcoin.

According to BitcoinTreasuries.net, Coinbase currently holds 9,480 BTC, worth approximately $988 million, making it the ninth-largest corporate Bitcoin holder globally.

Tapping Derivatives: Deribit Acquisition

On May 8, Coinbase also announced the $2.9 billion acquisition of crypto derivatives exchange Deribit, marking the largest M&A deal in crypto industry history. Deribit saw over $1 trillion in trading volume in 2024 and has around $30 billion in open interest.

With this acquisition, Coinbase declared itself the new global leader in crypto derivatives trading, expanding far beyond its Bermuda-based offerings.

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