Deals in the crypto sector have accelerated this year as the crypto-friendly Trump administration has encouraged companies to expand their businesses in the United States.
At this point, the latest news came from Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States.
Coinbase said today that it has acquired investment platform Echo in a cash-and-stock deal worth approximately $375 million and aims to bring fundraising tools to its platform.
While the official statement came from Coinbase, Echo founder and online nickname Cobie, Jordan Fish, also confirmed the agreement on the social media platform X.
Coinbase stated that the reason for investing in Echo was very simple and that by acquiring Echo, they wanted to create more accessible, efficient and transparent capital markets.
Fish said Echo will remain a standalone platform under its existing branding for now, but he plans to integrate Echo’s public token sale product, Sonar, into Coinbase.
Coinbase explained that the deal will allow startups to secure custom-designed fundraising mechanisms tailored to their user bases and expand opportunities for investors to directly access early-stage projects.
Coinbase also acquired a special NFT from Echo founder Jordan Fish for $25 million yesterday. Cobie had announced that if his “Up Only” NFT was purchased, he would resume his podcast, which he had paused since the FTX crash at the end of 2022.
Coinbase has been attracting attention with its acquisitions this year. Its $2.9 billion acquisition of Deribit, the largest crypto derivatives exchange, has garnered considerable attention.
*This is not investment advice.