Coinbase Ends $2bn BVNK Deal as Stablecoin Race Heats Up: Fortune

Talks were abandoned after reaching the due diligence stage, with both sides “mutually agreeing to not move forward,” the exchange operator was cited as saying by Fortune. The publication said BVNK declined to comment. 

From exclusivity to exit

Coinbase and the London-based BVNK entered exclusive negotiations in October, preventing the startup from entertaining other offers. The deal would have positioned Coinbase as a major player in stablecoin infrastructure, complementing its $2.9bn Deribit deal earlier this year. 

BVNK helps corporate clients use stablecoins for cross-border transactions, payments and treasury management. The company had previously raised $50mn in December 2024 in a round led by Huan Ventures, with Coinbase Ventures, Tiger Global, Visa and Citi’s venture arm also participating.  

Strategic recalibration 

For Coinbase, the breakdown marks a tactical pause rather than retreat. The exchange has spent 2025 aggressively expanding into payments infrastructure, betting that stablecoins will underpin the next phase of crypto adoption. CEO Brian Armstrong said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call that recent acquisitions, including Deribit, are “in service of our core focus around trading and payments.” 

Mastercard, which has also explored a BVNK bid, has since shifted its attention to acquiring crypto infrastructure provider Zerohash. Coinbase, by contrast, appears intent on building rather than buying its stablecoin stack, supported by its USDC partnership with Circle and a growing range of merchant and card integrations. 

The collapse of the BVNK deal may delay Coinbase’s move deeper into settlement infrastructure, but it reinforces the company's determination to control the rails of digital payments on its own terms.