Coinbase’s M&A Talks With 2TM Fall Apart

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has reportedly shut down discussions for a controlling interest in the cryptocurrency brokerage 2TM, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday (May 4), citing unnamed sources with insider information.

The Brazilian unicorn 2TM was under advisement by JPMorgan Chase & Co. regarding the deal, which would have given Coinbase a controlling stake or minority interest, the sources said.

A Coinbase spokesperson said in a statement that it is steadily expanding its presence in Brazil, and already has personnel in place. No reason was given for the negotiations ending. 2TM declined to comment.

If a deal was made, Coinbase would have further expanded its international footprint in its push to attract more users.

To oversee its Brazilian expansion, Coinbase hired Fábio Tonetto Plein as the country director, a former executive with Uber and PicPay, according to the report. Coinbase is also planning to expand the local workforce there.

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Coinbase announced in March that it was close to a deal with 2TM, which controls Latin America’s Mercado Bitcoin, the biggest crypto brokerage in that region, PYMNTS reported at the time. M&A talks first started last year.

Following a $200 million funding in July, 2TM was valued at $2.1 billion. The company also raised $50 million in November. Launched in 2013 and headquartered in San Paulo, 2TM is the second cryptocurrency unicorn in Latin America.

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Coinbase is also eyeing an expansion to Turkey and is in talks to buy the Turkish crypto exchange BtcTurk for $3.2 billion, PYMNTS reported last month.

Headquartered in Silicon Valley and launched in 2012, Coinbase started with the mission of enabling people from anywhere in the world to “easily and securely send and receive Bitcoin,” according to its website. The exchange now has over 89 million registered users across more than 100 countries.