Coinbase Closes Busy Month With Acquisition Of Data Analytics Platform

Coinbase capped a busy April on Friday with its announcement that the cryptocurrency exchange will acquire skew, a data visualization and analytics platform for crypto markets.

“We know that access to high-quality data is essential for institutions assessing investments in crypto assets,” said Greg Tusar, vice president for institutional product. “That’s why we’re excited to integrate skew’s data analytics platform with Coinbase Prime, allowing our customers to track cryptocurrency spots and derivatives markets in real time. With skew, we’ll arm professional traders with dynamic, aggregated market data, presented in a highly actionable format, all within our market-leading prime brokerage.”

Coinbase says it stores $122 billion in assets from 7,000 financial institutions (FIs), a figure that accounts for more than half of the $223 billion total assets on its platform. According to Tusar, Coinbase will continue to serve skew’s customers.

The London-based skew was founded in 2018 and serves more than 100 customers, including One River Asset Management and Susquehanna International Group. Its leadership includes people from traditional financial services and crypto market backgrounds, from institutions such as J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.

Tusar said the acquisition, which is subject to typical closing conditions, should conclude sometime in the second fiscal quarter.

This announcement comes at the close of a busy month for Coinbase, which went public on April 14 through a direct listing, marking a new chapter for crypto exchanges.

On Thursday (Apil 29), the exchange said it would allow users to link their digital wallets directly to their PayPal accounts in an effort to make purchasing easier. Customers with PayPal accounts can make transactions on Coinbase right away without the need to add bank account info or card numbers into Coinbase.