Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN) has acquired LiquiFi, a token management platform used by the likes of the Uniswap Foundation, OP Labs (Optimism) and Ethena.

While the terms of the deal remain undisclosed, Coinbase said in a blog post that the acquisition will make it easier for crypto start-ups to build on-chain.

"Coinbase plans to integrate Liquifi's capabilities with Coinbase Prime to give issuers best-in-class tools directly out of our market-leading Prime platform, while tightening our integration across custody, trading, financing, and beyond," a Coinbase spokesperson told CoinDesk.

LiquiFi is used by start-ups to manage functions like team token ownership, vesting schedules and compliance workflow.

Coinbase's rival, Binance, recently rolled out an Alpha platform that features token launches and token incubation. It's unclear whether Coinbase will follow Binance down this route but it did say in the blog post that it wants to "remove the barriers" for start-ups by providing both the product to make token launches simple.

The acquisition follows a steady stream of M&A activity in crypto in recent weeks; in May DEX aggregator 0x acquired its competitor Flood and in the same week David Bailey's Nakamoto Holdings went public via a merger with KindlyMD.

COIN shares rose 1% in pre-market trading following the announcement.

UPDATE JULY 2, 1:55 UTC: Adds quote from Coinbase spokesperson.

Oliver Knight is the co-leader of CoinDesk data tokens and data team. Before joining CoinDesk in 2022 Oliver spent three years as the chief reporter at Coin Rivet. He first started investing in bitcoin in 2013 and spent a period of his career working at a market making firm in the UK. He does not currently have any crypto holdings.