Coinbase acquires Native Markets, report

Coinbase said on May 14 that it had become the official treasury deployer of USDC on Hyperliquid, and that Native Markets had agreed to terms granting Coinbase the right to purchase the USDH brand assets. The announcement stops short of saying Coinbase bought Native Markets itself. It says Coinbase is taking over the treasury-deployer role for USDC on Hyperliquid while USDH, the stablecoin Native Markets launched for the network, “will sunset over time.” Tekedia’s framing of the move as a Coinbase acquisition of Native Markets is not supported by Coinbase’s own statement. Coinbase’s blog post names only the “right to purchase the USDH brand assets,” not an acquisition of the company, team, or operating entity behind USDH. Unchained and CoinDesk described the deal the same way, as a brand-asset purchase tied to a stablecoin transition on Hyperliquid. (coinbase.com) ### Did Coinbase buy Native Markets, or something narrower? Coinbase’s May 14 statement describes a narrower transaction. The company said Native Markets “agreed to terms granting Coinbase the right to purchase the USDH brand assets,” language that points to intellectual property or branding rather than a whole-company acquisition. (coinbase.com) Native Markets still has an operating role in the transition. Coinbase said users will continue, “over the coming months,” to redeem USDH for USDC or fiat without fees through Native Markets’ USDH Dashboard, which suggests Native Markets remains involved in conversions and redemptions during the wind-down. ### What exactly is changing on Hyperliquid? (coinbase.com) Hyperliquid is shifting its treasury plumbing toward USDC. Coinbase said it is becoming the official treasury deployer of USDC as an Aligned Quote Asset, or AQA, on Hyperliquid, and that USDH markets remain functional for now but will be phased out over time. USDC already had the larger footprint on the venue. (coinbase.com) Coinbase said USDC supply on Hyperliquid was about $5 billion and roughly doubled year over year, while outside reports this week put USDH supply near $100 million after the token launched in September 2025. ### Why does the USDH piece matter if USDC was already dominant? (coinbase.com) Native Markets was the team that introduced USDH through Hyperliquid’s AQA framework. Coinbase said Native Markets had “pioneered the concept of a network-integrated stablecoin” on Hyperliquid, and that Coinbase would build on those foundations as it takes over the deployer role. (coinbase.com) The operational point is that the deal reaches beyond listing a stablecoin. Under the arrangement Coinbase described, the company is taking the role that sits closer to issuance, reserve deployment and market structure inside Hyperliquid’s trading system, while the older native stablecoin is retired. That is the part the official statement verifies. (coinbase.com) ### How does this fit with Coinbase’s broader derivatives push? Coinbase has already been expanding in derivatives. The company said in August 2025 that it had closed its acquisition of Deribit, the crypto options exchange, after Deribit posted July 2025 volume above $185 billion and about $60 billion in open interest. (coinbase.com) The Hyperliquid move adds another piece tied to trading infrastructure. Unchained reported that Coinbase will manage USDC liquidity across Hyperliquid’s spot, perpetual futures and HIP-4 markets, though the official Coinbase post focused on the treasury-deployer role and the sunset of USDH. ### What about the Hana-Dunamu deal mentioned alongside it? (investor.coinbase.com) Hana Financial Group disclosed a separate transaction on May 15. Bloomberg reported that Hana Bank approved the purchase of 228 million Dunamu shares from Kakao Investment for about 1 trillion won, or $670 million; Dunamu operates Upbit, South Korea’s largest crypto exchange. (unchainedcrypto.com) The two transactions involve different companies, markets and structures. The verified link between them is timing: both were reported this week as exchange-related groups moved deeper into the infrastructure around crypto trading and settlement. ### What should readers watch next? Coinbase said the next step is a gradual migration. (bloomberg.com) Over the coming months, USDH holders can redeem into USDC or fiat through the USDH Dashboard, and USDH markets will remain live during the transition before sunsetting. Hana’s Dunamu purchase has a nearer dated milestone. Reports on the South Korean transaction said the stake purchase is expected to close by June 15. (coinbase.com) (gncrypto.news)