Analysts have mixed opinions on Coinbase's acquisition of Deribit: Derivatives expansion is optimistic, but retail growth is questionable

Planet Daily News: Before the closing of U.S. stocks on Thursday, Coinbase chose to disclose to the market its acquisition of Deribit. Benchmark analyst Mark Palmer pointed out that with more institutions adopting cryptocurrencies, acquiring Deribit would allow Coinbase to "immediately dominate the rapidly growing derivatives sector". Oppenheimer analyst Owen Lau believes this move will make Coinbase a "strong challenger" to Binance, Bybit, and OKX in the derivatives field, and emphasizes that "cryptocurrency options have weak cyclicality and stable demand regardless of market trends". However, Compass Point analysts Ed Engel and Joe Flynn noted that Deribit primarily serves institutional clients and will not help improve Coinbase's perpetual contract trading volume, which is mainly retail-driven. The two analysts downgraded Coinbase's rating to sell last week and reiterated that its U.S. retail trading market is saturated. Michael Klena from Architect Partners believes this acquisition will not fundamentally change his assessment of Coinbase (target price $170), as it is merely an extension of existing business and cannot reduce the impact of cryptocurrency market volatility on quarterly performance.