Coinbase is on a roll. It has made another major acquisition, soon after the US exchange acquired Blockspring and soon after it made major improvements in its offerings to clients. The largest US crypto exchange even added a stablecoin to its portfolio.
Coinbase just made a very interesting acquisition. Buying Neutrino, an Italian blockchain surveillance company for an undisclosed amount of money, Coinbase is facing some serious backlash already. The reason for that is the fact that Neutrino has some suspicious roots in its development and mostly in its team.
The CEO of Neutrino, Giancarlo Russo, was a former COO for HackingTeam, a company that reportedly sold “offensive intrusion and surveillance capabilities to governments, law enforcement agencies and corporations.”
The goal of Coinbase, however, appears to be a strategic one. According to press, Neutrino will help the US exchange push a broader class of digital currencies internationally.
Currently, Neutrino has eight employees, who will all move to London and will serve external clients from there. Neutrino is essentially an analytics platform, so Coinbase intends to leverage its position with regulators and compliance issues by having a “shoulder to lean on” in the face of Neutrino.
Neutrino’s team is reportedly more than excited to be joining the largest US crypto exchange and expanding their operations in London.
It appears that Coinbase is thinking in a very strategic way when it comes to their business strategy. The acquisition of Neutrino will enable the company to further leverage its blockchain technology, products and develop an in-house analytics powerhouse.