12 ms·

Coinbase releases professional trading platform for institutional clients

154 points by jv22222 8y ago

Alex3917 8y ago
Institutional accounts have already existed on Coinbase for a long time. Maybe the splash page is new?
- bhaak 8y ago
  According to their blog, they are adding new tools for institutional traders: > Over the course of the year we intend to offer lending and margin financing products to qualified clients, high touch and low touch execution services like over-the-counter (OTC) trading and algorithmic orders, and new market data and research products https://blog.coinbase.com/coinbase-institutional-deea317d23af https://blog.coinbase.com/coinbase-institutional-deea317d23a...
- lisbakke 8y ago
  No. Read this https://blog.coinbase.com/coinbase-institutional-deea317d23af https://blog.coinbase.com/coinbase-institutional-deea317d23a... They are getting lower latency, secure storage and new trading products -- only available to Institutions.
45h34jh53k4j 8y ago
Hyperbitcoinization incoming! In all seriousness, the attention from institutions, growing maturity of custodial solutions and good monetary policy are colliding. Nocoiners, watch out!
- subcosmos 8y ago
  Coming soon, CDOs (Coin-Debt-Obligations)!
  - jamespedwards 8y ago
    https://dai.makerdao.com/ https://dai.makerdao.com/
  - ataturk 8y ago
    Probably! My biggest issue with all this crypt hoo-ha is that the pigs from Wall Street who know a great scam when the see one went into cryptos with both feet. What does that tell you?
- whataretensors 8y ago
  I think Hyperbitcoinization was avoided with alts. The pressure to outcompete bitcoin prevents a lot of hoarding.
- frockington 8y ago
  Can't wait for btc to be offered as collateral on debt. Will slaughter the retail investor like pets.com
  - kenpomeroy 8y ago
    You can't wait for retail investors to be slaughtered?
lisbakke 8y ago
They're going to give new tools to institutional traders. Co-location, FIX market data, lending & margin financing products, professional crypto secure storage ('coinbase custody') etc. etc. They'll be faster than non-institutions and have trading options unavailable to the rest of us. Read this https://blog.coinbase.com/coinbase-institutional-deea317d23af https://blog.coinbase.com/coinbase-institutional-deea317d23a... Right now, the institutions have to play on a level playing field with us one-man teams. This suite of products will give them their pay-to-win advantages to keep us little guys from being the fastest and best in the market. I have the fastest bot on GDAX right now, that will only last until these new services are introduced -- since I can't afford to pay $XXk a month for the privilege. Edit: If you're reading this from your chair at a HFT firm, send me a message if your company is interested in the fastest bot :)
- btown 8y ago
  It’s almost like capital tends to concentrate in the absence of regulated financial markets or something...
  - AndrewBissell 8y ago
    Yes, none of these things the OP described exist in the regulated markets such as equities, bonds, or futures.
    - fwdpropaganda 8y ago
      You're talking past each other. Regulation is not a binary thing.
  - tradedash 8y ago
    https://www.amazon.com/Flash-Boys-Wall-Street-Revolt/dp/0393351599 https://www.amazon.com/Flash-Boys-Wall-Street-Revolt/dp/0393...
  - anfogoat 8y ago
    Two words that perfectly describe financial regulation: accredited investor. Now, what was that about capital concentration?
rb808 8y ago
Is there a reason to prefer trading with BTC rather than the futures?
- DINKDINK 8y ago
  One pays a premium for the security of a future, if you don't need that security, you can buy / sell at a better price.
RasputinsBro 8y ago
Coinbase lost this radio show's money and won't take responsibility for it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E7FSs6oXak https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E7FSs6oXak (I'm not the show host, I just enjoy the show)
- stef25 8y ago
  And I'm locked out of my account for 6 months cause 2FA stopped working and now they can't verify my ID. The whole thing is a shit show.
oceanghost 8y ago
Does anyone trust Coinbase at this point?
- fractaleyes 8y ago
  As long as there is not a large crash currently happening, their service works pretty well. Generally, once your funds are dropped in Coinbase, you can transfer to GDAX, purchase what you want, then immediately transfer to a wallet or another exchange within minutes.
- adsfasdfsad111 8y ago
  does anyone not trust them?
- pbreit 8y ago
  I think the vast, vast majority trust it a great deal, perhaps more than any other crypto property. So I'm wondering why you would ask such a question?
  - jbaudanza 8y ago
    They have developed a reputation for having poor, unresponsive consumer support. Try doing a twitter search for @coinbasesupport. At any given time, it's a horror show. I personally discovered this after a time sensitive transaction took about 48 hours to complete because of a buggy deploy on their end. The only reason it didn't take longer was because I was able to track down a coinbase support employee on the bitcoin reddit.
    - RasputinsBro 8y ago
      So this seems to be a pattern. The link that I posted elsewhere in this thread and the occurrence there was precisely because of poor support. (Again, I'm not affiliated with that guy in any way)
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
pastor_bob 8y ago
How about they get rid of wash trading first
- aristocles 8y ago
  Wash trading makes valuating the market on volume alone harder to do and therefore increases novel activity in the market, making old algo's obsolete and decreasing risk temporarily until the wash trading strategy is identified and made unprofitable. Wash trading did nothing wrong.
whydoineedthis 8y ago
I'm so glad the currency is decentralized so that the existing powers don't have undue influence over monitary policy and the value of the currency I hold. Oh....wait...right...greed wins again. You can distribute the nodes all you want, as long as the currency can be traded on a financial swap system, it will be nothing more than another commodity.
whydoineedthis 8y ago
public service announcement: use square's app to move your fiat to bitcoin instead. Works way faster than coinbase.
whistlerbrk 8y ago
What does this mean for Gemini?
- otoburb 8y ago
  I think Gemini was the first in NY to launch institutional features back in late 2016[1], including the hallowed custodial service. My understanding is that without a qualified custodian[2][3], hedge funds with assets under management greater than $150M were unable to invest in said securities because they need(ed) a qualified custodian beyond this limit. [1] https://medium.com/gemini/gemini-licensed-custodial-services-c4f2658d7469 https://medium.com/gemini/gemini-licensed-custodial-services... [2] https://www.sec.gov/rules/final/ia-2176.htm https://www.sec.gov/rules/final/ia-2176.htm [3] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-crypto-currencies-funds/lack-of-wall-st-back-office-deters-mainstream-crypto-investments-idUSKBN1I91WF https://www.reuters.com/article/us-crypto-currencies-funds/l...
hmate9 8y ago
The GDAX servers are hosted on AWS. Us-East-1 if i remember correctly. This allows anyone to have basically free colocation. So not sure why they give colocation as a selling point here
- joncrane 8y ago
  Would you have to try instances in multiple availability zones until you get the one with the shortest round trip time? Surely they load balance across AZs though so results may change...
dnomad 8y ago
It's an interesting idea. I guess is an institution is going to take on crypto exposure they'll need all the trimmings including real-time market data in order to properly manage their exposure. But beyond the basic risk management... there's not much actual trading going on, is there? What drives the need for low latency? The crypto space has fewer assets than the actual real-currency FOREX market and it's not driven by real economic data, right? The only real "strategy" is momentum trading, right? It's just not clear what low-latency is buying you here.
- pmart123 8y ago
  Lower latencies would help any market makers that change bid/offer quotes more quickly when say the price of bitcoin changes on a different exchange, or the FX price changes in the quoted base currency.
fartzzz 8y ago
I think the good thing about the crypto currency trading world is that everyone have more or less the same access as everyone else on the current exchanges (at least on GDAX). It would be great with more exchanges to fill the gap between the exchanges that wants to be 'traditional' (GDAX) and the ones who cannot be trusted (Maybe Bitfinex?)
ataturk 8y ago
So now institutions can trade this bullshit, too?
rajacombinator 8y ago
Coinbase is basically nothing and continuing to decline in relevance in the crypto market. The idea that they’re capable of providing a higher level of service when they failed miserably at what they do now is amusing.

154 points by jv22222 8y ago

Alex3917 8y ago

Institutional accounts have already existed on Coinbase for a long time. Maybe the splash page is new?

bhaak 8y ago
According to their blog, they are adding new tools for institutional traders: > Over the course of the year we intend to offer lending and margin financing products to qualified clients, high touch and low touch execution services like over-the-counter (OTC) trading and algorithmic orders, and new market data and research products https://blog.coinbase.com/coinbase-institutional-deea317d23af https://blog.coinbase.com/coinbase-institutional-deea317d23a...
lisbakke 8y ago
No. Read this https://blog.coinbase.com/coinbase-institutional-deea317d23af https://blog.coinbase.com/coinbase-institutional-deea317d23a... They are getting lower latency, secure storage and new trading products -- only available to Institutions.

45h34jh53k4j 8y ago

Hyperbitcoinization incoming! In all seriousness, the attention from institutions, growing maturity of custodial solutions and good monetary policy are colliding. Nocoiners, watch out!

subcosmos 8y ago
Coming soon, CDOs (Coin-Debt-Obligations)!
- jamespedwards 8y ago
  https://dai.makerdao.com/ https://dai.makerdao.com/
- ataturk 8y ago
  Probably! My biggest issue with all this crypt hoo-ha is that the pigs from Wall Street who know a great scam when the see one went into cryptos with both feet. What does that tell you?
whataretensors 8y ago
I think Hyperbitcoinization was avoided with alts. The pressure to outcompete bitcoin prevents a lot of hoarding.
frockington 8y ago
Can't wait for btc to be offered as collateral on debt. Will slaughter the retail investor like pets.com
- kenpomeroy 8y ago
  You can't wait for retail investors to be slaughtered?

lisbakke 8y ago

They're going to give new tools to institutional traders. Co-location, FIX market data, lending & margin financing products, professional crypto secure storage ('coinbase custody') etc. etc. They'll be faster than non-institutions and have trading options unavailable to the rest of us. Read this https://blog.coinbase.com/coinbase-institutional-deea317d23af https://blog.coinbase.com/coinbase-institutional-deea317d23a... Right now, the institutions have to play on a level playing field with us one-man teams. This suite of products will give them their pay-to-win advantages to keep us little guys from being the fastest and best in the market. I have the fastest bot on GDAX right now, that will only last until these new services are introduced -- since I can't afford to pay $XXk a month for the privilege. Edit: If you're reading this from your chair at a HFT firm, send me a message if your company is interested in the fastest bot :)

btown 8y ago
It’s almost like capital tends to concentrate in the absence of regulated financial markets or something...
- AndrewBissell 8y ago
  Yes, none of these things the OP described exist in the regulated markets such as equities, bonds, or futures.
  - fwdpropaganda 8y ago
    You're talking past each other. Regulation is not a binary thing.
- tradedash 8y ago
  https://www.amazon.com/Flash-Boys-Wall-Street-Revolt/dp/0393351599 https://www.amazon.com/Flash-Boys-Wall-Street-Revolt/dp/0393...
- anfogoat 8y ago
  Two words that perfectly describe financial regulation: accredited investor. Now, what was that about capital concentration?

rb808 8y ago

Is there a reason to prefer trading with BTC rather than the futures?

DINKDINK 8y ago
One pays a premium for the security of a future, if you don't need that security, you can buy / sell at a better price.

RasputinsBro 8y ago

Coinbase lost this radio show's money and won't take responsibility for it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E7FSs6oXak https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E7FSs6oXak (I'm not the show host, I just enjoy the show)

stef25 8y ago
And I'm locked out of my account for 6 months cause 2FA stopped working and now they can't verify my ID. The whole thing is a shit show.

oceanghost 8y ago

Does anyone trust Coinbase at this point?

fractaleyes 8y ago
As long as there is not a large crash currently happening, their service works pretty well. Generally, once your funds are dropped in Coinbase, you can transfer to GDAX, purchase what you want, then immediately transfer to a wallet or another exchange within minutes.
adsfasdfsad111 8y ago
does anyone not trust them?
pbreit 8y ago
I think the vast, vast majority trust it a great deal, perhaps more than any other crypto property. So I'm wondering why you would ask such a question?
- jbaudanza 8y ago
  They have developed a reputation for having poor, unresponsive consumer support. Try doing a twitter search for @coinbasesupport. At any given time, it's a horror show. I personally discovered this after a time sensitive transaction took about 48 hours to complete because of a buggy deploy on their end. The only reason it didn't take longer was because I was able to track down a coinbase support employee on the bitcoin reddit.
  - RasputinsBro 8y ago
    So this seems to be a pattern. The link that I posted elsewhere in this thread and the occurrence there was precisely because of poor support. (Again, I'm not affiliated with that guy in any way)
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]

pastor_bob 8y ago

How about they get rid of wash trading first

aristocles 8y ago
Wash trading makes valuating the market on volume alone harder to do and therefore increases novel activity in the market, making old algo's obsolete and decreasing risk temporarily until the wash trading strategy is identified and made unprofitable. Wash trading did nothing wrong.

whydoineedthis 8y ago

I'm so glad the currency is decentralized so that the existing powers don't have undue influence over monitary policy and the value of the currency I hold. Oh....wait...right...greed wins again. You can distribute the nodes all you want, as long as the currency can be traded on a financial swap system, it will be nothing more than another commodity.

whydoineedthis 8y ago

public service announcement: use square's app to move your fiat to bitcoin instead. Works way faster than coinbase.

whistlerbrk 8y ago

What does this mean for Gemini?

otoburb 8y ago
I think Gemini was the first in NY to launch institutional features back in late 2016[1], including the hallowed custodial service. My understanding is that without a qualified custodian[2][3], hedge funds with assets under management greater than $150M were unable to invest in said securities because they need(ed) a qualified custodian beyond this limit. [1] https://medium.com/gemini/gemini-licensed-custodial-services-c4f2658d7469 https://medium.com/gemini/gemini-licensed-custodial-services... [2] https://www.sec.gov/rules/final/ia-2176.htm https://www.sec.gov/rules/final/ia-2176.htm [3] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-crypto-currencies-funds/lack-of-wall-st-back-office-deters-mainstream-crypto-investments-idUSKBN1I91WF https://www.reuters.com/article/us-crypto-currencies-funds/l...

hmate9 8y ago

The GDAX servers are hosted on AWS. Us-East-1 if i remember correctly. This allows anyone to have basically free colocation. So not sure why they give colocation as a selling point here

joncrane 8y ago
Would you have to try instances in multiple availability zones until you get the one with the shortest round trip time? Surely they load balance across AZs though so results may change...

dnomad 8y ago

It's an interesting idea. I guess is an institution is going to take on crypto exposure they'll need all the trimmings including real-time market data in order to properly manage their exposure. But beyond the basic risk management... there's not much actual trading going on, is there? What drives the need for low latency? The crypto space has fewer assets than the actual real-currency FOREX market and it's not driven by real economic data, right? The only real "strategy" is momentum trading, right? It's just not clear what low-latency is buying you here.

pmart123 8y ago
Lower latencies would help any market makers that change bid/offer quotes more quickly when say the price of bitcoin changes on a different exchange, or the FX price changes in the quoted base currency.

fartzzz 8y ago

I think the good thing about the crypto currency trading world is that everyone have more or less the same access as everyone else on the current exchanges (at least on GDAX). It would be great with more exchanges to fill the gap between the exchanges that wants to be 'traditional' (GDAX) and the ones who cannot be trusted (Maybe Bitfinex?)

ataturk 8y ago

So now institutions can trade this bullshit, too?

rajacombinator 8y ago

Coinbase is basically nothing and continuing to decline in relevance in the crypto market. The idea that they’re capable of providing a higher level of service when they failed miserably at what they do now is amusing.