Hedge funds are activating and scaling their crypto investment strategies. As these strategies grow more sophisticated, the demands on providers continue to rise.
Advanced investment strategies require a full prime brokerage platform; combining deep liquidity, efficient and stable financing, secure custody.
That is what sets Coinbase Prime apart.
Over the past year, we launched a series of upgrades designed to meet the needs of today’s most advanced hedge funds. These include Portfolio Margining across more than 85 assets, with a rules-based risk methodology and reliable access to stable borrow workflows, seamlessly integrated into trading workflows via the Prime UI or API. Prime supports a full range of strategies, from directional and market-neutral to fully automated quant, with the operational ease and risk controls that institutional managers expect.
Coinbase Prime was designed from day one to meet the standards of leading institutional managers. That is why many of the world’s largest hedge funds and asset managers trust the platform to power their investment strategies. At the core of Prime is Coinbase’s NYDFS-qualified custodian, which underpins the entire stack and provides robust asset protection, and the strongest balance sheet in crypto.
A Platform That Meets the Moment
Coinbase Prime has been purpose-built to meet the needs of today’s institutional investors. We have spent the past several years building a single platform that unifies liquidity, financing, and custody with the operational controls our clients expect.
Liquidity spans Coinbase Exchange and a curated set of third-party venues selected for market depth, reliability, and counterparty quality. This approach drives best execution and minimizes operational risk. Coinbase Prime also facilitates block trades through our institutional high touch trading desk, working directly with a network of the largest liquidity providers to deliver anonymous execution and superior liquidity.
Prime Custody, our NYDFS-qualified custodian, provides robust asset protections and seamless integration with trading and financing.
Portfolio Margining supports levered long/short trading across 85+ assets. This enables investors to deploy the most sophisticated strategies while managing risk with the transparency and reporting they require.
Financing That’s Transparent and Built for Scale
Financing on Prime is designed to meet institutions' need for capital efficient solutions, stable borrow, and transparent pricing.
Efficient access to leverage
Up to ~6x leverage on spot assets. Borrow USD or crypto directly. Withdraw funds for derivatives margining, all on-demand.
Portfolio Margining optimizes collateral for directional and long/short strategies with a transparent, rules-based methodology.
Risk management
Transparent margin rules provide certainty for each trade.
Stable and transparent borrow rates help preserve strategy performance.
Automated margin monitoring and institutional-grade controls are tailored for directional and quant-driven strategies.
What You Can Do on Prime Today
Prime supports the strategies that matter to institutional managers. The platform is designed to simplify complexity across trading, financing, and custody.
Run long/short strategies at scale Unlock greater capital efficiency with rules-based Portfolio Margining, designed by experts and tailored for institutional strategies. Access stable borrow across 85+ assets and market color directly from our institutional trading desk.
Deploy investment strategies via API or UI Access the full stack programmatically: multi-venue smart order router, real-time risk tools, and flexible execution options through 8+ OEMS platforms.
Execute large trades discreetly Work with our agency-only desk and trusted liquidity network for block trades with anonymity and best execution, without internal market-making risk.
Improve operational and capital efficiency Use UI or API to manage everything from trading to financing to reporting, with admin integration, audit trails, and consensus workflows that keep operations and compliance teams in sync. Prime brings together custody, funding, and execution in one place,minimizing drag and maximizing scale.
Why it Matters
For institutional managers executing sophisticated crypto strategies, Coinbase Prime is the only platform that unifies trading, financing, and custody with integrated risk management, capital efficiency, and seamless execution—all backed by NYDFS-qualified custody. In addition to this core stack, Prime provides crypto-native capabilities, including custodial staking, onchain wallet infrastructure, and seamless connectivity to the broader cryptoeconomy, within a single trusted environment.
Whether managing directional exposure, capturing spreads, or running automated strategies at scale, Prime delivers the capital efficiency and asset protection institutions demand.
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