Coinbase handled trades and custody for Meitu’s $90M crypto investment

Meitu CFO Gary Ngan said the firm would have faced difficulties acquiring crypto on its own as a listed company.

Crypto exchange Coinbase’s institutional custody platform helped execute the purchase and custodying of roughly $90 million of Bitcoin and Ether for Chinese tech company Meitu.

In a blog from Coinbase today, the U.S.-based crypto exchange said Meitu used its services to execute up to $90 million worth of crypto transactions “across multiple marketplaces with minimal market impact.” This month the tech firm purchased 379 Bitcoin (BTC) for roughly $17.9 million and 15,000 Ether (ETH) for $22.1 million, followed by 386.08 BTC for $21.6 million and 16,000 ETH for $28.4 million. Coinbase Custody also provided cold storage for the digital assets, which are now worth more than $94 million.

“Cryptocurrencies are not new but acquiring cryptocurrencies as a listed company, while ensuring the security of the transaction and storage as well as compliance of various regulations and audit requirements, is still like navigating through uncharted waters,” said Meitu chief financial officer Gary Ngan.

Meitu cited institutional players like Tesla and business intelligence firm MicroStrategy acquiring Bitcoin as part of the reason behind its purchase, in addition to the increasing acceptance of crypto as a form of payment for goods and services. The company went public in 2016 and is listed in both Hong Kong and China.

Coinbase has also facilitated MicroStrategy’s multimillion dollar BTC purchases. The crypto exchange’s institutional custody platform was the primary partner for the firm’s $425 million Bitcoin purchase in September, executed over a period of five days.