Crypto exchange Coinbase is in a buying mood again with the acquisition of Milan-based blockchain intelligence platform Neutrino, reports Antony Peyton of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).

Financial details were not disclosed.

According to Coinbase, blockchain intelligence is “increasingly important” in the crypto ecosystem, and is “necessary to achieve our mission of bringing the open financial system to the world”.

By analyzing data on public blockchains, Neutrino’s tech will let Coinbase prevent theft of funds from peoples’ accounts, investigate ransomware attacks, and identify bad actors. It will also help bring more (unspecified) cryptocurrencies and features.

For example, on its website, Neutrino offers its XFlow nSpect solution. This is developed specifically for law enforcement agencies, and provides features for criminal investigations and intelligence gathering.

Neutrino, which was founded in 2016, will continue to operate as a standalone business based out of its London office.

Meanwhile, Coinbase seems to be making good progress.

Last month, it bought Blockspring, a San Francisco-based start-up enabling data collection through APIs.

Back in August 2018, it acquired another San Francisco-based start-up – Distributed Systems – as it plans to use cryptocurrencies and blockchain for validating and verifying identity.

Coinbase demonstrated its technology at FinovateSpring 2014. With more than 20 million users and $150+ billion traded, the fintech unicorn was valued at $8 billion at the time of its last fundraise in October 2018.

Blockspring, a San Francisco-based start-up enabling data collection through APIs, has been acquired by Coinbase, the giant crypto online exchange, reports Henry Vilar of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).

Financial details were not disclosed. Blockspring will continue to operate as an independent company and its products will continue to operate for current and new customers without changes.

Paul Katsen, co-founder of Blockspring, said the firm was attracted by Coinbase’s commitment to establishing an open financial system and the strength of its engineering team, led by Tim Wagner.

Wagner was formerly part of AWS Lambda, a service that launched soon after Blockspring unveiled a tool for developers to build APIs without needing to touch any servers. Lambda made this product, to a certain extent, superfluous, and forced the firm to reconsider its strategy.

That’s when Blockspring redirected its core business to help get data from APIs into productivity tools, as the firm took advantage of the proliferation of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and end-user computing.

“Making the technical simple and accessible is what we’ve always been about at Blockspring,” said Katsen on the acquisition.

The firm’s products can be used for purposes such as building lists and repositories for recruitment, marketing/sales, and reporting.

Blockspring is a Y Combinator alumnus, and has so far raised $3.5 million from investors that include SV Angel and a16z, both of which are Coinbase investors.

Coinbase, which has acquired and backed companies from around the world, and seems to be aiming high after October’s $300 million raise.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, Coinbase demonstrated its platform at FinovateSpring 2014.