Coinbase in early stage acquisition talks with peer-to-peer rental startup - source

Exchanges • October 4, 2019, 8:39PM EDT
UPDATED: October 5, 2019, 9:34PM EDT
TechCrunch/Flickr

Coinbase has been in early stage acquisition talks with Omni, according to report by TechCrunch. 

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The cryptocurrency exchange is considering buying the rental startup's engineering talent to work on the Coinbase Earn product. Omni originally started off as a storage service provider before pivoting to enabling users to borrow items from other users on its platform. A Coinbase representative told TechCrunch that there's currently no official deal on the table.

Omni has raised a total of $35M from investors including Flybridge, Highland, and Founders Fund. In 2018, the firm raised $25M from Ripple. A source familiar with the situation confirmed the deal was under consideration and that Coinbase is only looking at the firm's engineering team. 

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Steven Zheng is a researcher for The Block. He joined The Block in August 2018. Steven graduated from St. John’s University with a degree in economics. Previously, he covered blockchain and crypto at Radicle, a startup analytics firm. He also had brief stints at Cheddar, a media startup, and Bowery Capital, a venture capital firm. He owns bitcoin. Follow Steven on Twitter at: @Dogetoshi

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