Report: Binance Plots $400 Million Acquisition of CoinMarketCap
Crypto exchange juggernaut Binance is reportedly close to sealing a $400 million deal to purchase cryptocurrency trading data platform CoinMarketCap.
Binance Acquisition Spree Continues
An unconfirmed report from Forbes says Binance is in negotiations with crypto data provider CoinMarketCap over a possible acquisition deal. Inside sources with knowledge of the proceedings say the crypto exchange giant is ready to fork out $400 million in cash and stocks to secure the purchase of CoinMarketCap.
According to Forbes, the deal could be finalized and officially announced before the end of the week, marking one of the most significant acquisitions in the crypto space. The conclusion of the deal could also confirm Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao’s statement from earlier in the year hinting at a few purchase deals in the pipeline.
Back in January, the Binance chief in his address to the company’s users said:
“We always have a number of strategic acquisition discussions in the works, a couple of them are major and will have a significant impact. We will announce it in due time.”
In 2019 alone, Binance went on an acquisition spree buying up three major companies in the crypto industry including Indian cryptocurrency trading startup WazirX and decentralized application (dApp) analytics platform DappReview.
CoinMarketCap is the industry leader in the provision of crypto trading market data but has come under some criticism for failing to filter out wash trading and spoofing. At the time, several reports declared that crypto trading volumes were exaggerated.
The crypto trading data provider has since taken some steps in response to the situation. Back in mid-2019, the company acquired Hashtag Capital in a move to improve its cryptocurrency pricing algorithm while warning exchanges that failed to provide mandatory data would lead to exclusion from its platform.
Expansion Still on the Cards for Crypto Trading Giant
News of the planned CoinMarketCap acquisition comes at a time when Binance is in the midst of several expansion activities. As previously reported by BTCManager, the company launched its Binance Card as part of efforts to improve retail adoption and make spending crypto for microtransactions a lot easier.
Since 2019, the exchange behemoth has been onboarding several national fiats, creating more robust onramps for crypto buying for its users across the globe. Back in February, Binance added the Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) to the list.
Apart from expansion on the trading front, Binance is also working towards enhancing blockchain research. Recently, Binance Academy announced the establishment of a blockchain research institute in Shanghai, China.
