Coinbase, one of the largest crypto trading platforms worldwide, purchased Xapo. Coinbase Custody announced the news this Friday without specifying the financial side of the deal. Yet, a business news outlet, Fortune reported that the payment was USD 55 million.
The crypto exchange was in a battle for Xapo with Fidelity for some time now. After the announcement, Coinbase is one step closer to worldwide recognition.
The company currently has custody over crypto coins worth over USD 7 billion. Xapo is among the first custodial businesses for Bitcoin around the world. In 2018, Xapo gained licenses from the Financial Services department of New York for a crypto trading platform.
The vast majority of the company’s users consented to move their funds to Coinbase Custody. This will bring the company over 500 thousand new Bitcoins. Yet, a number of large holders still have not transferred their funds, which would totally be worth around USD 3.5 billion. The company currently has over 120 users of this service from fourteen countries globally.
According to the CEO of Coinbase, custody is very important in the process of institutionalizing the crypto market. In his words, it is going to start small and then gain momentum quickly bringing money to the crypto firms.
