Coinbase, along with Crypto.com, attempted to acquire FTX twice since the bankruptcy

• Coinbase, Crypto.com and crypto firm Trek Labs each tried their best to acquire the European branch of FTX.
• Coinbase failed twice in doing so, with the most recent attempt being this month.
• Since FTX Europe’s derivative business operated under a Cyprus license, exchanges are looking to get their hands on it to expand their business.

It is about to be a year since FTX went bankrupt and shook the market to its core. However, the exchange was not a single entity as it had branched out in different parts of the world. While the bankrupt exchange may not be worth as much to other businesses today, some of its parts certainly do.

Coinbase failed to acquire FTX

According to a report from Fortune, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, had its sights on FTX’s Europe branch right after the latter’s collapse. Coinbase even tried its best to acquire the European branch of the kaput exchange twice in the past ten months, the first being right after FTX’s bankruptcy in November 2022 and the second being this month.

However, Coinbase was not alone in the run, as other firms like Crypto.com and Trek Labs were also interested in acquiring FTX Europe. The deadline for the $400 million exchange is now set for September 24. 

One of the biggest reasons behind the high demand for the exchange is the fact that it comes with a Cyprus license. Operating under this license made its derivatives’ products’ operation valid.

Derivatives trading stands to be one of the few flourishing markets of the crypto industry despite the present conditions of the space. Thus, exchanges looking to expand their business would be able to generate much higher revenue if they acquired an established derivative trading firm.

On the other hand, FTX itself is also potentially set to sell its assets as the debtors, to whom the bankrupt exchange owes over $9 billion, received the court’s permission to sell the assets held under FTX’s name.

Initially, FUD surrounding the bearish impact of this selling did see some objection from investors; however, safeguards such as gradual and controlled selling would ensure that the market does not crash due to the sudden flooding of crypto assets.

Read more - FTX exchange’s $3.6 billion crypto liquidation unlikely to cause bloodbath in Solana, Ethereum, Aptos prices

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