Coinbase has made another acquisition, buying Neutrino, a blockchain intelligence platform, which will boost the exchange’s security.

Over the last year or so, security has become an important topic for cryptocurrency enthusiasts. A number of crypto blockchains have discovered potentially devastating flaws in security, and exchanges have seen quite a few hacks take place, resulting in millions of dollars in losses. A recent notable example is the New Zealand-based Cryptopia, which was hacked twice in two weeks. Coinbase is looking to enhance their security, so they’ve bought Neutrino, a blockchain intelligence platform.

Coinbase Picks Up Another Company

The San Francisco-based exchange has been sinking quite a bit of cash into snapping up other companies. According to Crunchbase, the exchange has bought 12 different companies so far. Most of these seem to have been done in order to snap up the talented people working within the purchased companies.

In a recent blog post, Varun Srinivasan, the engineering director for Coinbase, explains the reasons behind the purchase of Neutrino. He says:

Blockchain intelligence is increasingly important in the crypto ecosystem, and is necessary to achieve our mission of bringing the open financial system to the world. By analyzing data on public blockchains, Neutrino will help us prevent theft of funds from peoples’ accounts, investigate ransomware attacks, and identify bad actors. It will also help us bring more cryptocurrencies and features to more people while helping ensure compliance with local laws and regulations.

Varun Srinivasan goes on to say that the technology created by Neutrino is the best that Coinbase has seen in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Neutrino Still Independent

The purchase of Neutrino does not mean that the blockchain intelligence platform will be absorbed into the greater whole of Coinbase. The company, along with its 8 employees, will remain a standalone business but will move to the Coinbase office located in London.

Neutrino will continue working with its current clients, but they will also be focusing on theft-prevention and security for the exchange. This will eventually be followed by them analyzing new asset listings for Coinbase.

Such an acquisition is a smart move by the exchange, It brings a talented pool of engineers and developers into the mix and brings their expertise to bear on security, the biggest single issue facing cryptocurrency exchanges today. After all, users need to have confidence that their funds are secure on an exchange or else they’ll go somewhere else.

What do you think about Coinbase buying Neutrino? Let us know in the comments below.

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