Coinbase acquires crypto custody firm Unbound Security 

Coinbase has strengthened its custody and cybersecurity capabilities with the acquisition of Unbound Security, a crypto custody infrastructure firm specializing in MPC technology.

Unbound uses a new type of security

Coinbase announced Tuesday that it has acquired Unbound Security, a Tel Aviv-based company that uses a new type of cryptography to store digital assets. The companies did not name a price for the acquisition. However, Unbound has raised $40 million since its inception in 2017, meaning Coinbase likely paid significantly more than that amount for the acquisition. Once the acquisition is complete, Coinbase will also have a presence in Israel, as the company will establish a “tech center of excellence” in the country.

It is known that Coinbase already invests heavily in the security of its custody operations, but with the recent acquisition, the company has a new technology in the form of secure multi-party computation (MPC), which is said to be both very secure and easy to use. “MPC will deliver by protecting our customers’ assets with a technique that provides the virtually impenetrable nature of cold offline storage with the frictionless convenience of hot online wallets,” Coinbase said in a blog post describing the acquisition.

Coinbase improves its cybersecurity and customer support

It looks like Coinbase is investing heavily in customer support and cybersecurity. The company has a good reason to do so, as Coinbase has announced that more than 6,000 of its customers have fallen victim to hackers attempting to steal their cryptocurrencies using SIM cards. With the launch of Coinbase One, a paid subscription service, customer support has also become an essential topic. To improve it, Coinbase recently acquired Agara, an AI-powered customer support platform. In addition, Coinbase has also acquired crypto wallet provider BRD, crypto data and analytics platform Skew, crypto data aggregator Zabo, and staking infrastructure company Bison Trails.

Coinbase is not the only crypto exchange that has focused on cybersecurity. In a similar move, Gemini also acquired a crypto custody infrastructure company specializing in MPC technology called Shard X earlier this year. It seems like there is a market opportunity as exchanges likely acquire these companies at a premium.