Coinbase just announced their acquisition of Earn.com, the company’s most significant M&A to date.
Coinbase, one of the largest U.S. cryptocurrency trading platforms, just acquired Earn.com in a deal slightly more than $100 million. It includes payments in cash, stock, and cryptocurrency assets.
Founded in 2013, the US startup allows senders to pay users in digital currency for replying to emails and completing tasks. It also lets companies preparing to hold an ICO to airdrop tokens to its users in exchange for feedback. The company started as a hardware maker for bitcoin mining and was originally known as 21.co.
The deal also put Earn.com co-founder and CEO Balaji Srinivasan as Coinbase’s first CTO. This is a huge part of the deal’s appeal as Srinivasan is a highly valued individual in Silicon Valley. He was a former Andreessen Horowitz partner and an early cryptocurrency advocate.
“With Coinbase’s user base and distribution muscle, I think it could hit $100 million in ARR in a few months,” Srinivasan told TechCrunch. He adds that he is excited about the road ahead with the partnership.
Earn also announced the partnership in their website. “Paid email is already one of the first truly useful applications of the blockchain. With Coinbase, we think we can prove that at scale.”
The deal doesn’t come as a complete surprise as Coindesk reported last month that Coinbase and Earn.com were in talks over a deal.