Coinbase to Expand its EU Operations Via Acquisitions

TL;DR

• Coinbase is seeking to expand its European presence via acquisitions.

• The crypto exchange has agreed to buy a company holding a Mifid II license.

Coinbase to Expand its Presence in the EU

Coinbase, one of the leading crypto exchanges in the world, announced on Friday that it is in the process of acquiring a MiFID-licensed entity to expand its derivatives offering in the EU.

In its blog post, the cryptocurrency exchange said the deal is subject to regulatory approval and could close before the end of the year. Coinbase didn’t disclose the name of the company but it is based in Cyprus. 

Coinbase added that the license would enable it to offer crypto-based derivatives on Europe, an addition to the spot trading feature it offers to its EU-based clients at the moment. 

The exchange said, 

"As part of our global expansion, we’re in the process of acquiring a European Union MiFID (Markets in Financial Instruments Directive) licensed entity based in Cyprus that would increase access to our derivatives products by letting us offer them to eligible customers in select countries across the EU.

Adding such a license to our international portfolio would further support the strong interest we’ve seen in our derivatives offerings and help us capture more of the ~75% of the global crypto market claimed by derivatives.”

The cryptocurrency exchange also pointed out that the deal has a long road ahead before becoming final due to the regulatory scrutiny it has to go through.