Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN), the largest crypto exchange in the US, has acquired skew, a UK-based data analytics firm in the digital asset sector. Terms of the deal were not revealed and the transaction is expected to close next month following typical closing conditions.
Founded in London in 2018, skew is a leading data analytics firm serving over 100 hedge funds, banks, and exchanges.
Co-founders include CEO Emmanuel Goh who previously worked at JP Morgan and Blockchain.com and COO Tim Noat previously at Citigroup and UBS. The Chairman of the board is Jamie Selway, previously head of electronic brokerage at ITG which was acquired by Virtu Financial for $1bln in 2019.
In a blog post skew called the acquisition a fantastic milestone in their mission to make cryptocurrency markets more transparent and accessible for institutional investors.
To quote skew:
“Coinbase is the go-to partner in making cryptocurrency accessible to both retail and institutional customers globally. By joining Coinbase, skew will benefit from a widely increased set of resources which will allow us to accelerate the pace of the platform’s development and support our product ambitions. We very much look forward to working with the Coinbase team to combine skew’s leading analytics platform and derivatives expertise with Coinbase’s best-in-class institutional product suite. Coinbase has been our client since we launched skewAnalytics. Over the course of the last two years, we have not only developed a strong, positive relationship with the Coinbase team but have witnessed first-hand their impressive product-led culture, focus on compliance and commitment to the institutional space. There is a strong alignment between skew and Coinbase and as a result, Coinbase makes a great home for our team.”
Coinbase VP Greg Tusar said they know that access to high-quality data is essential for institutions assessing investments in crypto assets.
“That’s why we’re excited to integrate skew’s data analytics platform with Coinbase Prime, allowing our customers to track cryptocurrency spot 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.”
Today, more than 7000 institutions use the Coinbase platform. Approximately $122 billion in digital assets held by institutions are stored on Coinbase – over half to the total assets held ($223 billion).
Earlier this month, Coinbase became a public company in a direct listing on the Nasdaq. A seminal event for the digital asset industry, Coinbase currently holds a market cap of over $55 billion.