CoinMarketCap acquires Coinglass and gets its hands on derivatives market data

CoinMarketCap has just acquired Coinglass. The amount of the operation will remain secret. But the connection is hard to miss. On the one hand, the site that millions of users consult to follow prices. On the other, a platform that has become essential for observing liquidations, open interest and even financing rates. And behind CoinMarketCap, there is Binance. Obviously, this acquisition goes far beyond the simple purchase of a data site.

CoinMarketCap had the prices, Coinglass now shows where it breaks

CoinMarketCap claims around 115 million users each month. Its role is known: prices, capitalizations, rankings, information on assets. For many individuals, it is even the first reflex when a cryptocurrency like BNB starts to move.

Coinglass plays in another category. The platform tracks open interest, funding rates, liquidations, long/short positions and even options. It covers 28 exchanges and more than 2,500 instruments. More than 5 million people use it every month, plus 10,000 API clients.

THE rapprochement therefore has a fairly simple logic. CoinMarketCap knows how to show what’s moving. Coinglass helps to understand what is happening behind the movement.

Rush, boss of CoinMarketCap, explains it bluntly:

Derivatives are where most of the market risk is taken, and Coinglass is where most people go to watch it. Our role is to make this vision accessible to many more people, not to modify it.

Source: CoinMarketCap

For crypto traders, the change could therefore be very concrete: less back and forth between several platforms to understand a market movement.

“You already had the scoreboard, now you also have the autopsy”

It is this part of the operation that provokes a reaction. On X, Katherine (@Katherine_XBT) summarized discomfort in one sentence. The formula is deliberately provocative, but it goes to the heart of the problem. CoinMarketCap was already linked to Binance. Coinglass now adds a much more sensitive data layer for crypto traders: one that tracks leveraged positions and liquidation zones.

White Whale Labs asked the question in a much more direct way. The account explains that it uses Coinglass data on a daily basis before adding:

Do I trust Binance to provide accurate data that continues to help me win? Not really. What are the best alternatives with API access?

Source: White Whale Labs,

Other users already mention Glassnode, CryptoQuant, Token Terminal, Goldsky, ExoCharts or Quantower. There is no evidence that Coinglass data will change. But in the crypto community, trust is a given in its own right.

28 exchanges, more than 2,500 instruments: the problem is also that of concentration

We must return to the structure of the operation. CoinMarketCap was acquired by Binance in 2020. The amount was not officially communicated at the time, although estimates had suggested up to $400 million, with part of the transaction in stocks and BNB.

Today, Coinglass brings another piece of the puzzle. Its platform monitors 28 exchanges, including Binance, and gathers a considerable amount of information on derivatives markets.

It’s not just about the graphics. Derivatives concentrate a large part of the crypto sector’s volumes. Liquidations, funding rates and changes in open interest give traders clues about how positions are built — and sometimes how they may disappear.

The buyout therefore creates a special situation. The same ecosystem now brings together a major price monitoring platform and a widely used tool for analyzing risk.

There is no shortage of alternatives. Glassnode, CryptoQuant, Token Terminal or Goldsky already occupy a place in the ecosystem. But Coinglass benefits from a habit that is difficult to replace: its liquidation cards and tables circulate everywhere.

The question then becomes quite embarrassing: if the owner of an exchange also has the tool to observe the positions and liquidations that occur there, where does data neutrality begin and end?

Binance in the background, Coinglass on the front line: how long will it last?

On paper, nothing changes. Coinglass has clearly announced this: the brand remains the same, the site and application continue to work, the free tools remain available, as do the API and prices.

CoinMarketCap, for its part, assures that it wants to integrate Coinglass data into its offer. Open interest, liquidations, funding rates and options could therefore gradually join the information already offered to users.

This is where the subject gets interesting. A company can remain legally independent while being much more present in its owner’s ecosystem. For the user, the difference may become difficult to perceive.

Coinglass wants to reassure: “ Coinglass will continue to operate as an independent company under the Coinglass brand. Our site, app, free tools, API, and pricing remain unchanged, and our team continues to build the product our users rely on every day. » – Source: CoinMarketCap / Coinglass

The important word, however, remains “today”. The product may not have changed. The structure around him, yes.

The numbers to remember

• 115 million monthly users currently frequent CoinMarketCap.
• More than 5 million monthly users use the Coinglass platform.
• 28 exchanges are covered by Coinglass data.
• More than 2,500 instruments are tracked on the platform.
• 10,000 API clients use Coinglass data.

The takeover of Coinglass comes as Binance is also seeking to find a place in Europe with a different approach, particularly in France. Two months after MiCA, the possibility of a return via the AMF adds another dimension to the operation. On the one hand, Binance wants to regain regulatory ground. On the other, its ecosystem strengthens its access to crypto data. The two files are separate. But their schedule is clearly worth watching.