Coinbase Boosts Team with Acquisition of Kippt Developers

Coinbase has acquired the team behind Kippt and Inc, headed by Jori Lallo and Karri Saarinen.

AccessTimeIconMay 7, 2014 at 11:42 a.m. UTC
Updated Aug 18, 2021 at 2:52 p.m. UTC

Presented By Icon

Election 2024 coverage presented by

Stand with crypto

Bitcoin exchange and wallet provider Coinbase has acquired the team behind content-sharing platforms Kippt and Inc, headed by Jori Lallo and Karri Saarinen.

Coinbase says it has known the two for quite some time and they have already collaborated on some projects, both formally and informally.

  • Bitcoin Mining in the U.S. Will Become 'a Lot More Decentralized': Core Scientific CEO
    13:18
    Bitcoin Mining in the U.S. Will Become 'a Lot More Decentralized': Core Scientific CEO
  • Binance to Discontinue Its Nigerian Naira Services After Government Scrutiny
    05:10
    Binance to Discontinue Its Nigerian Naira Services After Government Scrutiny
  • The first video of the year 2024
    04:07
    The first video of the year 2024
  • The last regression video of the year 3.67.0
    40:07
    The last regression video of the year 3.67.0
  • “Both will be joining our product team to help us continue to make bitcoin easy to use for the everyday consumer, merchant, and developer,” Coinbase said in its blog.

    Coinbase welcomes the Kippt team - I’m excited to announce that we’ve acquired the team behind Kippt and... http://t.co/tOK4bYmqie

    — Coinbase (@coinbase) May 6, 2014

    Kippt clipped

    In case you missed it, Kippt is an innovative service designed to share ideas and content from around the web. The Kippt team recently expanded the idea with Inc – a version of Kippt aimed at enterprise users. The Kippt API is used in many third-party apps too.

    “This marks the end of the journey for us at Kippt. Although our service has been loved by many, we never achieved the growth and the scale that would allow a sustainable future for Kippt,” the company said in a blog post.

    Lallo and Saarinen said they are excited to join Coinbase’s product team. They argued that bitcoin is one of the most important inventions of recent decades and it is driving a major shift in the payments and financial industry.

    The exact details of the stock-and-cash deal have not been disclosed. While it may mark the end of the road for Kippt, the team says it will keep both it and Inc alive as side projects. Kippt Pro paid plans will be discontinued, however.

    VC backing

    The Kippt deal is Coinbase's first acquisition since it raised $25m in series-B funding led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz last year.

    Since then the company has announced a number of partnerships, such as in-app transaction deals with BitMonet and popular finance app Mint.

    On top of that, Coinbase passed one million wallet downloads in late February.

    Disclosure

    Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information have been updated.

    CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk has adopted a set of principles aimed at ensuring the integrity, editorial independence and freedom from bias of its publications. CoinDesk is part of the Bullish group, which owns and invests in digital asset businesses and digital assets. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive Bullish group equity-based compensation. Bullish was incubated by technology investor Block.one.


    Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.