Coinbase Global Inc., an American publicly traded company that operates a cryptocurrency exchange platform, is aiming to expand beyond its retail trading business. In a move to fulfill this goal, it has acquired One River Digital, a subsidiary of the One River Asset Management investment company.

As per CoinDesk, Coinbase has been looking to diversify its business and do more than just offer retail trading. The company is said to be taking this step in response to its falling transaction volume in recent months.

The addition of institutional investment management in its portfolio is said to be part of Coinbase’s strategy to boost profits by offering new types of services. One River Digital is a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission-registered firm and it will become part of the cryptocurrency firm to help create its foundation to become an investment advisory service provider for institutional clients. The terms of the acquisition deal between Coinbase Global and One River Digital were not divulged.

It was noted that prior to the acquisition, Coinbase and One River Digital have joined forces in February 2022 to offer the latter’s separately managed accounts to Coinbase Prime users. This setup allowed the customers to hold the assets themselves while reaping benefits from the expertise of an external asset manager as well.

“We welcome top talent at Coinbase, and the One River Digital Asset Management team represents the best expertise in their field,” Brett Tejpaul, head of Coinbase Institutional, and Greg Tusar, vice president of Institutional Product, stated in a blog post. “We look forward to working with them in building our asset management business and providing industry-leading products and services to the institutions we support.”

Finally, Reuters reported that One River Digital Asset Management would become Coinbase Asset Management once the deal is closed. It will start operating as a fully-owned division of Coinbase.

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