Coinbase's (COIN) $2.9 billion acquisition of Deribit will be a tipping point for the company, pushing the U.S.-based exchange into direct competition with global heavyweights like Binance, Wall Street analysts wrote on Thursday.

US cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has agreed to buy Dubai’s Deribit for $2.9bn in the digital market’s largest ever deal as the industry prepares for an expected wave of demand from asset managers and banks.

Coinbase announced Thursday the biggest deal in the crypto industry to date when it said it would buy derivatives exchange Deribit in a $2.9 billion deal to move into the crypto options markets.