Coinbase Selected By Meitu For $90 Million Crypto Purchase and Custody

Chinese tech company Meitu has joined a growing list of clients under Coinbase's Institutional Custody Platform. The exchange handled both the trade execution and custody of Meitu's recent $90 million cryptocurrency investment.

Meitu Chooses Coinbase

In a blog post, Coinbase announced that Meitu bought $90 million worth of crypto transactions through its platform.

According to the medium post, Meitu utilized Coinbase's algorithmic execution and smart order routing tools, along with the execution planning services of its high-touch agency-only OTC trading desk, to execute these transactions.

Earlier this month, Meitu spent $22 million on Ethereum and $17.9 million on Bitcoin. The firm also added $28.4 million Ethereum and $21.6 million Bitcoin two weeks after the first buy.

Following the purchase, Coinbase transferred the digital assets into a secure offline cold storage.

Meitu's Chief Financial Officer, Gary Ngan, said the firm would have faced difficulties acquiring crypto on its own as a listed company.

“Cryptocurrencies are not new but acquiring cryptocurrencies as a listed company while ensuring the security of the transaction and storage as well as compliance of various regulations and audit requirements, is still like navigating through uncharted waters.”

Meitu said it was buying the cryptocurrencies for investment purposes. It also said the purchase was partly as preparation to enter the blockchain industry. The funds were financed from its cash reserves.

Founded in 2008, Meitu makes smartphones and selfie apps. It is headquartered in Xiamen, Fujian, and is one of China's top internet enterprises. It is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

Coinbase Steadily Growing Its Institutional Clientele

Although Coinbase has helped some corporations diversify with cryptocurrency, Meitu is unique because of its significant investment in Ethereum.

Other big companies have chosen Coinbase in the past as well. One of them is Business Intelligence firm, Microstrategy which purchased $425 million worth of Bitcoin in September 2020. Microstrategy now holds more than $5 billion in Bitcoin.

Coinbase also partnered with Elon Musk's car company Tesla, on its $1.5 billion bitcoin purchase in February. This was similar to Microstrategy's purchase in which the order was routed to several over-the-counter trading desks.