Coinbase moving focus away from Wall Street and institutional offerings

Interesting news, and I think a bit negative for crypto prices all around.

Looks like a recent hire away from Reuters shows us that Coinbase wants to focus on its primary competitors, like Binance, and grab more volume outside of the US.

I thought Coinbase would continue developing its institutional offerings full steam ahead, especially with current prices as low as they are, and with retail trader/investor pockets only so deep. Institutional money , you would think, would guide the major crypto assets up and out of the dumps they’re currently in. Perhaps this means more supported currencies on its platforms everywhere, so more exposure for the masses. But really it signals to me that interest all around is low and getting lower.

Coinbase announced that it is increasing the size of its debt offering to roughly 2 billion USD from the previously announced 1.5 billion USD, because of stronger then expected market interest.

“This capital raise represents an opportunity to bolster our already strong balance sheet with low-cost capital”, Coinbase said and clarified that it “intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, which may include continued investments in product development, as well as potential investments in or acquisitions of other companies, products or technologies that Coinbase may identify in the future.”

They’re the only show on the road at the moment. Binance was close to being next, and probably still is at the head of the pack, with Kraken coming in second.

Binance.Us is still years away from an IPO.