Coinbase Reinforces Onchain Ambitions with Opyn’s DeFi Derivatives Pioneers
The post Coinbase Reinforces Onchain Ambitions with Opyn’s DeFi Derivatives Pioneers appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.
Key Takeaways: Coinbase acquires Opyn’s leadership team to strengthen its push into onchain derivatives infrastructure. Opyn’s founders, known for Squeeth and Power Perpetuals, bring deep DeFi-native technical expertise. Coinbase plans to scale Verified Pools and advance hybrid market infrastructure blending CeFi and DeFi. Coinbase has made another aggressive move in its ongoing campaign to reshape global markets onchain. By hiring the founding minds behind Opyn, a pioneer in decentralized options, the crypto exchange is signaling its long-term commitment to build compliant, transparent, and accessible financial markets powered by blockchain. Coinbase’s Vision: Onchain Markets as the Financial Future Coinbase has been gradually transitioning toward an “onchain-first” model. This latest acquisition, announced July 11, is part of a broader effort to turn that vision into operational reality. Instead of buying protocols or products, Coinbase is bringing in people, specifically, those with the rare ability to merge deep technical DeFi knowledge with real-world financial structure. At the center of this acquisition are Andrew Leone, former Opyn CEO, and Joe Clark, Head of Research. Both are now joining Coinbase’s Institutional Markets division, where they’ll play key roles in developing infrastructure such as Verified Pools, an initiative that combines decentralized liquidity with regulatory compliance. According to Coinbase’s announcement, the move reflects their belief that “the future of finance is onchain.” The company says Leone and Clark will help accelerate the migration of more of their exchange business onto public ledgers. Who Are the Minds Behind Opyn? From Experimental Derivatives to Mainstream Integration Opyn isn’t just another DeFi project, it was the first decentralized options protocol launched back in 2019. Its team introduced several key innovations that have become part of the DeFi vocabulary: oTokens: Tokenized call and put options enabling permissionless derivatives trading Power Perpetuals: Exotic instruments offering non-linear exposure (e.g., squared ETH returns) Squeeth:…
