Coinbase quietly guards a digital war chest of 2.7 million bitcoin, with Wall Street giants, tech titans, and mining firms all locking their crypto fortunes behind its walls.
Digital Fort Knox
Onchain data from timechainindex.com shows that San Francisco–based Coinbase (Nasdaq: COIN) currently safeguards 13.7% of the bitcoin ( BTC) in circulation. Beyond running a trading venue, the firm stewards sizeable balances for an array of counterparties, ranging from peer exchanges and miners to issuers of exchange‑traded products (ETPs).
Coinbase’s trove of customer assets totals 1,045,246 BTC, and the platform likewise custodies reserves for Revolut (28,536 BTC), Bitvavo (22,695 BTC), and Newton (1,480 BTC). The breadth of Coinbase’s institutional clientele sketches a vivid portrait of modern crypto finance.
Anchoring this ever‑growing vault is Blackrock, whose Ishares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) swiftly accumulated 607,086 BTC, earning the distinction of the largest ETF position under Coinbase’s watch. Trailing close behind, Grayscale’s GBTC stores 189,416 BTC, while ETF newcomers such as Ark Invest with 21shares and Bitwise collectively lift the ETF/ETP segment to well over 1 million BTC.
Coinbase’s remit extends far beyond exchange‑traded funds. The custodian defends Strategy’s cache—still eclipsing that of nearly every public company—and oversees balances for tech names such as Tesla and SpaceX, holding 11,509 and 8,285 BTC apiece. Together, Coinbase’s Prime Custody and over‑the‑counter (OTC) desks complete a client roster that spans crypto‑native funds and traditional finance (TradFi) institutions alike.
Whereas most heavyweight ETF sponsors—Blackrock, Ark Invest, Bitwise, Franklin Templeton, and even Grayscale—house their ETFs’ bitcoin with Coinbase, Fidelity’s FBTC fund prefers its own rails, employing its Fidelity Digital Assets custody stack. All told, Coinbase oversees 2,719,568 BTC under management—roughly $261 billion at prevailing spot prices.
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