According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, Coinbase, the leading US cryptocurrency exchange, has agreed to buy crypto options trading giant Deribit for a staggering $2.9 billion. 

This marks the largest transaction in the history of the cryptocurrency industry so far.  

Coinbase intends to gain a firmer footing within the thriving crypto derivatives market with the latest deal. Deribit, which was launched back in 2016, boasts roughly $25 billion in Bitcoin options open interest, according to the data provided by analytics platform CoinGlass.    

The shares of Coinbase are up nearly 5% in pre-market trading amid Bitcoin's price surge. 

The massive acquisition deal does come as a surprise. In March, Bloomberg reported that the two companies were already in advanced discussions, but it was not clear whether any final agreement had been reached back then.           

The crypto megadeal comes after enterprise blockchain Ripple announced that it was buying prime brokerage Hidden Road for $1.25 billion. According to Bloomberg, the company was also willing to fork out up to $5 billion to buy rival Circle, but the offer was reportedly rejected due to being too low.     

Kraken, one of Coinbase's main competitors, agreed to acquire futures trading platform NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion.