With spot trading volumes tumbling, Coinbase explored an acquisition of FTX Europe. Though never reaching a late stage, Coinbase interest in FTX Europe demonstrates the growing importance of derivatives to the Coinbase global business plan.

Coinbase explored acquiring the defunct FTX Europe unit in 2023 as part of a push to expand its global crypto derivatives business, but the talks remained preliminary and did not progress to an advanced stage. FTX Europe, which FTX had bought for roughly $376 million in late 2021, held a valuable Cyprus regulatory license that allowed it to offer crypto derivatives, including perpetual futures, across the European Economic Area. After FTX’s collapse and Chapter 11 filing in November 2022, the European entity and its licenses became a target for multiple bidders as FTX debtors sought ways to maximize recoveries for creditors. According to reporting on the sale process, Coinbase made at least one serious inquiry—and reportedly two separate approaches—about buying FTX Europe in order to accelerate its international derivatives expansion, but ultimately decided not to move forward and is no longer actively pursuing a deal. The interest underscores how important regulated derivatives have become to Coinbase’s strategy at a time when global spot trading volumes have fallen and competitors such as Binance and the former FTX built large businesses on futures and perpetual contracts. Coinbase has already acquired US-based futures venue FairX and obtained European approvals, but a deal for FTX Europe would have given it an established derivatives platform and licensing footprint in Europe much faster than building from scratch. The ongoing sale process for FTX Europe remains part of the broader effort by FTX’s bankruptcy estate, led by CEO John J. Ray III, to monetize remaining assets and improve customer recoveries.

✨ AI-generated background, compiled from web sources — not editorial content.

More coverage

• Coinbase Explores Acquisition of FTX Europe: Report (financemagnates.com)
• Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has made two attempts to (binance.com)
• FTX - Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
• Coinbase European Licenses and Disclosures (coinbase.com)
• FTX vs Coinbase: Which Crypto Exchange Should You Use? (directionsmag.com)

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• Spot Trading
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