2️⃣ Coinbase Acquires Deribit
Leading American crypto exchange Coinbase announced on Thursday that it will acquire Deribit – the undisputed global leader in crypto options – for $2.9B ($700M cash and 11M shares of COIN). The acquisition marks the largest deal that the crypto industry has ever seen and should enable Coinbase to expand on its derivatives offerings for international and advanced traders.

Later that day, Coinbase released earnings results for the first quarter of 2025. Revenues came in relatively strong at $2.03B (only 2% below analyst expectations, but its headline earnings result of $0.24 per share represented an 88% miss. This shortfall was largely driven by a 51% year-over-year increase in operating expenses and sizable $596M loss on company crypto holdings in Q1 (these losses may be recuperated in Q2 with increasing crypto prices).

Coinbase also unveiled early Friday that U.S. traders can now access 24/7 Bitcoin and Ether futures trading – a first for a CFTC-regulated exchange