Coinbase: institutional crypto investor market grows in 2021

According to Q1 2021 data, Coinbase has experienced 170% growth in terms of assets deposited by institutional investors, rising from $45 billion at the end of Q4 2020 to $122 billion at the end of Q1 2021.

Coinbase currently serves over 8,000 institutional clients, including hedge funds, asset managers, corporations, pension funds and foundations. 

Drew Robinson, Head of Hedge Funds Sales at Coinbase commented as follows:

 “Over the last 12 months, we have seen a growing interest from institutional investors seeking to take advantage of the crypto space. However, this year, interest from pension funds and hedge funds has skyrocketed, supported by the roll-out of crypto-ETPs as well as an increased understanding of the crypto economy”.

Coinbase’s institutional investor customers

Many of these institutional clients rely on Coinbase Custody, a secure, offline deposit solution built on a best-in-class key generation protocol, to protect their wallets. In addition, Coinbase Custody offers industry-leading insurance to provide further reassurance to investors.

Since its launch in 2018, Coinbase Custody has consistently seen a growing number of institutional investors who are increasingly interested in cryptocurrencies. 

According to the statement released by Coinbase today, the exchange has also seen strong activity related to cryptocurrency ETPs in recent months. 

Research conducted by Apex:E3 confirms this trend, reporting that as of early 2021, institutional investors have purchased 132,594 bitcoin.

Robinson added:

“Over time we have seen a variety of factors pulling institutional investors into the space; these range from hedging against inflation, diversification of corporate balance sheets and the desire for broader engagement in the digital economy, including areas such as payments, payroll and cross border payments. Client demand is also playing a significant role”.

 “We are hugely proud of Coinbase Custody, which is built around industry-leading security, supported by third-party insurance. In addition to providing a compliant and secure custody solution, clients also have access to network participation and delegated proof of stake. It is this best-in-class solution which has led to our asset growth and we look forward to working with more partners as the institutional market develops”.