Coindesk Logo

Coinbase, With 9K Institutions Already Enlisted, Launches ‘Prime’ Out of Beta

Coinbase, With 9K Institutions Already Enlisted, Launches ‘Prime’ Out of Beta

Coinbase, With 9K Institutions Already Enlisted, Launches ‘Prime’ Out of Beta

The prime brokerage offering could further cement the exchange as a leading force in institutional crypto adoption.

The prime brokerage offering could further cement the exchange as a leading force in institutional crypto adoption.

The prime brokerage offering could further cement the exchange as a leading force in institutional crypto adoption.

AccessTimeIconSep 20, 2021, 1:16 PM
Updated May 11, 2023, 7:04 PM
Attendees line up for the Coinbase ferris wheel during the 2021 Made In America music festival in Philadelphia. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Roc Nation)

Coinbase said Monday it’s opening its prime brokerage to all institutional investors.

The line of trading tools for professional investment firms already boasts a roster of 9,000 institutions, including hedge funds and family offices, according to data shared during Coinbase’s most recent earnings call.

Coinbase has long been assumed to be a bastion of retail crypto action but the launch of Prime should further cement the publicly traded exchange as a leading force in institutional crypto adoption. The company’s most recent shareholder letter said institutional trading accounted for 69% of Coinbase’s $462 billion in second-quarter trading volume.

In a blog post Monday, Greg Tusar, Coinbase’s vice president of institutional products, pointed to clients Meitu, MicroStrategy and One River as using the exchange’s “comprehensive platform to execute some of the largest trades in the industry.”

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, PNC Bank, SpaceX, Tesla, Third Point LLC and WisdomTree Investments were also singled out as clients in a shareholder letter last month.

Coinbase’s prime brokerage offering stems from the exchange’s acquisition of Tagomi in May 2020.

Here’s a hype video explaining how Prime works:

Disclosure

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.

Zack Seward is CoinDesk’s contributing editor-at-large.


Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.