The reality is that Coinbase through their due diligence process had to have known about these ties and how they may have been perceived by the media/crypto community and yet proceeded to buy it anyway because they are desperate to list new tokens to shore up declining revenue.

The deal was already signed...Coinbase can't just back out because they miscalculated the backlash despite the background of the founders being well known. The acquired team probably just gets to vest immediately and leave Coinbase without having to work for them.

Agree with the criticism of the acquisition but neutrino isn't product that helps them list assets faster

It is because they need some blockchain analytics provider (in-house or external) for every chain they list as a compliance prerequisite. Chainalysis/Elliptic only have a few available.

> because they are desperate to list new tokens to shore up declining revenue.

This exactly.

If they had Neutrino shares they still likely made money with the exit to Coinbase; and now they don't even need to stick around.