Coinbase In Talks to Buy Bitcoin Startup Earn.com

UPDATE (23, March 16:45 UTC): This article has been updated with additional information about the potential price from a source involved in the negotiations.

Coinbase may be on the verge of its biggest acquisition yet.

According to sources close to the situation, the San Francisco startup, which has raised more than $225 million in venture funding, is in talks to purchase Earn.com, which rebranded late last year from 21.co with the launch of its eponymous paid messaging platform.

Sources with knowledge of the talks gave different estimates of the price. One of those sources claimed Earn could be selling for $30 million. But another, who is directly involved in the discussions, said the total value of cash, cryptocurrency, stock and earn-out being discussed would exceed the more than $120 million Earn has raised over multiple funding rounds since its founding in 2013.

Still, Earn.com is said to be in talks with multiple parties about a potential acquisition, with one source indicating that the suitors were all "household names" in the industry.

While no deal has yet been struck, the news follows the March announcement that Coinbase had hired Emilie Choi, the former head of mergers and acquisition at LinkedIn, as its vice president of corporate and business development.

Earn.com CEO Balaji Srinivasan would potentially join Coinbase under the terms of the deal.

Coinbase did not respond to requests for comment at press time.

Balaji Srinivasan image via Consensus