In an announcement made on CNBC's Fast Money, Coinbase CEO, Asiff Hirji, introduced a new venture fund designed to target early-stage startups working to advance the cryptocurrency industry. The fund, which is seeded with $1.6 billion, will allow the San Francisco-based company to unload its massive balance sheet -- it is estimated that the company's revenues in 2017 were over $1 billion.
While this is a massive announcement for the startup community, cryptocurrency investors were disappointed that Coinbase didn't hint at the next coin to be listed on the trading platform. Hirji has emphasized that any investment from the venture fund will have zero barring on potential listing opportunities."That’s why today, we’re announcing the formation of Coinbase Ventures. We’ll be providing financing to promising early stage companies that have the teams and ideas that can move the space forward in a positive, meaningful way."
The company added that it is willing to invest in direct competitors to Coinbase and will not invest in security tokens at this time.
Delighted to announce the launch of Coinbase Ventures, the availability of The Coinbase Index and progress with Coinbase Custody and Coinbase Index Fund pic.twitter.com/xVvcf2tTGx
— Asiff Hirji (@AsiffHirji) April 5, 2018