Coinbase to Acquire Deribit for $2.9 Billion
Hey FinTech Fanatic!
The first rumours surfaced in January, with sources suggesting Deribit could fetch between $4 billion and $5 billion in a sale. Kraken had reportedly considered an offer but shifted its focus, acquiring U.S. retail futures trading platform NinjaTrader in March for $1.5 billion. Shortly after, Coinbase entered advanced talks with Deribit.
Now, less than two months later, Coinbase has agreed to acquire Deribit in a transaction valued at approximately $2.9 billion—roughly half the initial valuation estimates. The deal stands out as one of the year’s largest in crypto and signals Coinbase’s deeper push into institutional markets.
“This will make us the most comprehensive player in derivatives,” said Greg Tusar, Coinbase’s vice president of institutional product. The agreement includes $700 million in cash and 11 million Coinbase Class A common stock shares. For Coinbase, the acquisition opens broader access to the growing crypto derivatives space, long shaped by platforms like Deribit.
Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Dubai, Deribit offers options, futures, and spot trading. In 2024, its total trading volumes nearly doubled to $1.2 trillion as institutional interest grew following the U.S. presidential election. Earlier this year, Deribit also engaged Financial Technology Partners, led by Steve McLaughlin, for strategic advisory work.
With U.S. officials signaling ambitions to make the country a “bitcoin superpower,” the timing places both companies at a crossroads of regulation, institutional demand, and global expansion.
Back when the rumours started, I shared that Deribit has been working with Steve McLaughlin’s Financial Technology Partners (FT Partners). FT Partners was initially hired in early 2023 to help arrange secondary stock sales for existing Deribit investors; its advisory role later expanded to include evaluating full acquisition bids for the firm.
Read more global FinTech industry updates below 👇 and I'll be back with more on Monday!
Cheers,
INSIGHTS
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FINTECH NEWS
🇧🇷 Jeeves launches the Embedded Finance solution to optimise travel management in Brazil. Following this announcement, companies that process payments for hotel and airline bookings will be allowed to take advantage of the benefits offered by VCN cards.
🇺🇸 Klarna has postponed its planned U.S. initial public offering (IPO) due to market instability caused by recent tariff policies introduced by former President Donald Trump. The company had intended to raise over $1 billion at a valuation. Meanwhile, Klarna rethinks the AI cost-cutting plan by calling for real people. The company is piloting a new cohort of customer-service agents who can work remotely, aiming to replace outsourced human agents and tap into candidates such as students or rural populations.
🇺🇸 Green Dot attracts private equity interest despite sluggish deal climate. However, the prospective sale has been complicated because Green Dot owns a bank, while federal law prohibits PE firms from owning more than 24.9% of a bank. As a result, Green Dot could be sold in parts.
🇮🇹 Italy's Nexi beats first-quarter core profit expectations. The company is targeting low-to-mid single-digit percentage growth in net revenue and at least a 50-basis-point increase in its core profit margin. Keep reading
🇮🇱 eToro bets on growth ahead of IPO. The Israeli trading platform explained that the expected drop in net income was due to higher investment in marketing and growth. eToro reported $87 million for the first three months of 2024, but for January to March 2025, it expects this figure to fall between $76 million and $80 million.
🇺🇸 Corsair closes $600m continuation and secondary fund to back European FinTech portfolio. Corsair said the fund will enable the companies to continue executing value-creation initiatives such as tech optimisation, go-to-market strategies, human capital enhancement, and bolt-on M&A.
PAYMENTS NEWS
🇵🇹 Mollie launches payment solutions in Portugal for the growing e-commerce market. Mollie's expansion into the Portuguese market will help businesses, from startups to large corporations, simplify online and in-person payment processing, reporting, fraud prevention, and financing.
🇺🇸 How does the partnership between ACI Worldwide and TCH enhance the adoption and implementation of real-time payments? The mission is clear: to help banks make real-time payments available to more customers and to help more of their customers realize the benefits of the real-time economy. It’s more than just building technology.
🇧🇷 Pix scam: R$5 billion in losses surprise Brazilian authorities. A study by ACI Worldwide indicates that losses from Pix-related fraud in Brazil could reach R$11 billion by 2028. This is a concerning figure, as it positions the country as one of the main targets for instant payment scams.
🇮🇳 Cashfree Payments supports over 140 currencies on the upgraded global gateway. This feature enables both one-time and recurring transactions on international cards. This upgrade aims to help Indian merchants expand their business by up to 30%.
🌍 Marqeta’s processing volumes surge 27% on card issuance, BNPL, and Flex credential growth. The company is executing strategic initiatives to expand its global footprint and platform capabilities, evidenced by TPV more than doubling in Europe.
🇺🇸 Stripe unveils AI foundation model for payments and reveals ‘deeper partnership’ with Nvidia. The company claims that its new foundation model increased its detection rate for such attacks on large businesses by 64% practically overnight.
REGTECH NEWS
🇦🇪 eToro integrates UAE PASS, streamlining user onboarding. This new feature allows UAE-based users to register on eToro using the UAE PASS app, which pulls verified Proof of Identity (POI) and Proof of Address (POA) directly from the government’s digital identity system.
🇳🇱 XTransfer is officially licensed as EMI by the Dutch Central Bank. This significant milestone demonstrates international recognition of XTransfer's excellence in compliance, security, and service capabilities, and will further accelerate the company's localised development in Europe and its global strategic expansion.
DIGITAL BANKING NEWS
🇬🇧 Allica Bank completes £5.85 million bridging facility and celebrates record month for bridging finance. The facility, introduced by Arc & Co, was secured against an office building in Marylebone. Together, they have proven how a strong broker-bank relationship can support smooth execution.
🇵🇹 SPIN has more than 400,000 users. Launched a year ago by Banco de Portugal, the SPIN service has rapidly gained popularity. SPIN enables users to initiate credit and instant transfers using the recipient's mobile number or business identification number (NIPC) instead of the traditional IBAN.
🇧🇷 Nubank launches NFC Pix for Android mobile phones. Users must link their Pix key to the Google Pay wallet and perform an initial transaction by inserting the card and entering the PIN; subsequent payments can be made by proximity. This enhancement aims to streamline in-person transactions, offering a faster and more convenient payment experience.
BLOCKCHAIN/CRYPTO NEWS
🇺🇸 US banks can handle customer crypto assets held in custody. The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has confirmed banks under its jurisdiction can trade crypto on behalf of customers and outsource some crypto activities to third parties.
🇧🇹 Bhutan launches national-level crypto tourism payment system. The crypto tourism payment system lets travellers with Binance accounts use digital currencies to pay for nearly every aspect of their journey, from airfares and visas to accommodation, heritage site entry, and tour guides.
🇬🇧 GoCardless announces Giacom integration for cloud market tools. The integration enables Giacom channel partners to manage Direct Debit payments from within their billing system, helping them simplify collections, improve cash flow, and reduce operational overheads.
PARTNERSHIPS
🇧🇬 iCard achieves secure customer verification with Regula’s Solutions. By integrating Regula Face SDK and Regula Document Reader SDK with its KYC and risk assessment systems, iCard has moved to speedy, automated verification with improved fraud detection and enhanced the overall experience for customers in 30+ countries.
🇺🇸 Northern Tool + Equipment selects TreviPay to power pay-by-invoice net terms program. The partnership powers the new Northern Tool Commercial Account program, designed exclusively for businesses to provide greater flexibility and convenience in managing payments.
🇺🇸 Perpay taps Marqeta to power consumer credit card. By deploying the Marqeta platform, Perpay can scale its credit card offering while maintaining full control over the user experience and access in-depth customer insights and modern credit capabilities to drive more meaningful interactions with customers.
🇵🇦 Panama's Mercantil Banco taps Galileo for digital banking platform, to revamp its digital banking infrastructure with the Cyberbank Digital platform. These features will enable Mercantil to offer personalised, mobile-ready services that improve customer satisfaction and streamline operations.
🇦🇺 Yondr Money partners with Mastercard to supercharge its embedded finance solution, Kobble. This strategic collaboration enables Yondr to create Mastercard prepaid and debit products through its platform, providing businesses with the ability to launch embedded financial solutions in weeks rather than years.
🇺🇸 Ramp and Stripe deepen partnership to accelerate global commerce through stablecoin-backed cards. The corporate cards eliminate these pain points, offering businesses dramatically faster settlements, lower costs, built-in protection from currency volatility, and seamless card issuance, enabling global growth.
DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS
🇬🇧 Juice raises £25m for founder-focused lending platform. With the new funding in place, Juice says it is on track to reach a £100 million loan book with £25 million annual turnover by 2028. Keep reading
🇹🇭 Validus, FinTech Nation launch $10m SME fund for Thailand and ID. This will support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Thailand and Indonesia. The fund has completed its first closing and is now deploying capital into projects that provide growth financing to underserved SMEs.
🇸🇬 Sea injects additional S$78 million into MariBank. The new funds will support the expansion of MariBank digital banking services, enhance operational capabilities, and help the company better serve customers in a competitive market. Read more
🇬🇧 British FinTech startup Ravio raises €10.6 million to modernise compensation data for global workforces. With Series A funding, Ravio will continue its international expansion to help compensation Rewards leaders access modern tooling needed to deploy competitive pay strategies.
🇺🇸 Embedded FinTech startup Glide banks $ 15 M. Glide plans to use the funds to expand its platform beyond deposit origination to lending by rolling out AI-driven fraud and credit-decision tools. Continue reading
🇨🇭 Colb Asset SA raises $7.3 million in oversubscribed round to bring pre-IPO giants to blockchain. The funding will also support the development of Colb’s FinTech infrastructure, with a focus on cross-border payment rails. These assets will be made accessible via blockchain, targeting underserved yet rapidly growing markets.
🇺🇸 Ex-Synapse CEO Sankaet Pathak reportedly trying to raise $100M for his new humanoid robotics venture at a whopping $1 billion valuation. Pathak is reportedly moving full steam ahead on attempts to fundraise for his new venture, a humanoid robotics startup, Foundation.
M&A
🇺🇸 Coinbase strikes $2.9 billion deal for major crypto options platform, Deribit. Coinbase is the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S. and has a market value of north of $50 billion. The company currently offers futures trading in the U.S. and spot and perpetual futures products outside the U.S.
🇺🇸 Detroit FinTech Company Autobooks acquires Indiana Firm Allied Payment Network and lands $40m investment. The acquisition is designed to expand capabilities by adding bill payment and disbursement infrastructure to Autobooks’ suite of embedded services, including real-time bill pay and digital disbursement solutions.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
🇺🇸 FCA confirms payments and digital finance boss. David Geale will stay on as its payments head, as the government prepares to regulate cryptoassets and abolish the City watchdog’s payments subsidiary. Geale will become the FCA’s permanent executive director for payments and digital finance.
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