Asset AllocationMarch 7, 2023

Coinbase Acquires One River Digital

The digital asset manager will become Coinbase Asset Management, with CEO Eric Peters remaining on board.

Reported by Michael Katz

In a move intended to expand institutional access to digital assets, cryptocurrency exchange operator Coinbase acquired digital asset manager One River Digital, a subsidiary of One River Asset Management, the companies announced on Friday. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

After the acquisition closes, One River Digital will become Coinbase Asset Management and will operate as an independent business and wholly owned subsidiary of Coinbase, offering investment advisory services to institutional clients.

Under the terms of the deal, Eric Peters, CEO and CIO of One River Asset Management will be the CEO and CIO of Coinbase Asset Management, while remaining CEO and CIO of Stamford, Connecticut-based One River Asset Management, which will continue to be an unaffiliated and independent business. Coinbase Asset Management will also continue to operate as an independent entity, though under Coinbase, and will be separate from its trading and exchange businesses.

When One River made its first investment in digital assets in November 2020, the company worked exclusively with Coinbase to execute and custody the investments. Additionally, the companies partnered to build digital asset management infrastructure such as One Digital SMA, is a suite of digital investment strategies and indexes in a separately managed account platform. Coinbase Ventures was also an early investor in One River Digital.

Peters said in a blog post on One River’s website that the company first began discussing new collaboration opportunities with Coinbase last year.

“With so much shared history and the formation of strong bonds of trust and mutual respect, I developed a strong conviction that we would more fully realize our ambitions as a pillar within Coinbase,” Peters said in the post. “Our equity partners, advisors, and employees strongly approved.”

Peters said One River has been building a suite of institutional digital asset management products that now includes index, income, systematic trend-following and credit. Coinbase claims to have more than $130 billion worth of quarterly institutional trading volume and more than $50 billion of institutional assets on platform.