Coinbase to Buy $500M of Cryptocurrencies and Invest 10% of Profits, Says CEO

America’s largest digital asset exchange will expand its cryptocurrency holdings on the balance sheet with a $500 million allocation, said the company’s CEO, Brian Armstrong. Furthermore, he promised that the firm will invest 10% of its profit going forward.

Coinbase to Put More Crypto on Balance Sheet

Brian Armstrong, the chief operating officer of Coinbase, took it to Twitter to indicate that the company has received board approval to purchase over $500 million of cryptocurrencies. Thus, the exchange will expand its existing holdings, but he didn’t reveal what digital assets Coinbase currently holds or plans to buy.

Additionally, the largest US-based trading platform will invest 10% of all profits from now on in cryptocurrencies. Armstrong expects this percentage to “keep growing over time as the crypto-economy matures.”

We recently received board approval to purchase over $500M of crypto on our balance sheet to add to our existing holdings. And we’ll be investing 10% of all profit going forward in crypto. I expect this percentage to keep growing over time as the cryptoeconomy matures.

— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) August 19, 2021

The 10% allocation coming from profits could be quite significant in USD terms, at least according to recent history. The company reported in Q2 2021 record-breaking results, far surpassing the numbers from Q1, with $1.6 billion in net profit. This was a 4,900% surge from the same period in 2020.

Consequently, a 10% investment in crypto would mean somewhere around $160 million per quarter, even if Armstrong’s projections that the industry will continue growing don’t materialize.

The executive also outlined hopes that one day the exchange will be able to “operate more of our business in crypto,” as today it’s “still a mix.”

Coinbase Goes to Japan

Just a day before Armstrong’s announcement, the firm outlined expansion plans. The statement informed that the exchange, with nearly 70 million active users, operating in over 100 nations, has launched in Japan – or, as it described it – “one of the first countries to embrace crypto and one of the largest markets by crypto trading volumes in the world.”

To do so, Coinbase has partnered with a prominent local bank – Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG). Thus, Japanese customers will be able to access the trading venue through the MUFG Quick Deposit platform.

The US exchange will release retail products first, including the top five assets by trading volume, and will add more products shortly. Future plans also include introducing localized versions of other services, such as advanced trading and Coinbase for Institutions.