One River Digital Asset Management, which offers institutional clients cryptocurrency investment services, was purchased by Coinbase without disclosing the terms of the deal or the amount involved. The deal was struck a short time after the two organizations released a platform for separately managed accounts (SMAs) for wealth management companies.
- The recent acquisition, according to Greg Tusar, head of institutional product at Coinbase, aims to “bring more institutional capital” into the cryptocurrency market because One River Digital Asset Management primarily serves these clients rather than retail customers.
On the other side of this crypto winter, “we expect to build an amazing asset-management firm,” he continued.
- Eric Peters will remain as CEO and CIO after the purchase, and the acquired business will be called Coinbase Asset Management.
“My dual position allows me to understand both the traditional and digital asset worlds. For the next ten years, I’m betting on the convergence of the two,” he said.
- According to Peters, the negotiations for the deal began almost a year ago and continued throughout the 2022 crypto winter, which witnessed a catastrophic market crash and numerous failures. It was “a relatively easy decision,” he said, to sign an arrangement with Coinbase, praising it.
- About two weeks ago, the two organizations launched ONE Digital SMA, a new SMA service designed to give registered investment advisors and private wealth platforms better access to and opportunities in the cryptocurrency market.
- For Coinbase, which was adversely affected by the prolonged bear market and had to lay off a number of employees last summer, the decision could be seen as a breath of fresh air. At the beginning of the year, it fired an additional 950 employees.