Coinbase looking to raise $1.5 billion through debt offering

FILE PHOTO: The logo for Coinbase Global Inc, the biggest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, is displayed on the Nasdaq MarketSite jumbotron and others at Times Square in New York, U.S., April 14, 2021. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

(Reuters) -Coinbase Global Inc is planning to raise about $1.5 billion through a debt offering to invest in product development and potential mergers and acquisitions, the U.S. cryptocurrency exchange said on Monday.

The fundraising plans come less than a week after the company said U.S. regulators would sue the exchange if it went ahead with plans to launch a program allowing users to earn interest by lending digital assets.