On June 13, Coinbase rolled out several major updates simultaneously. First, Shopify announced it would enable USDC payments on Base through Shopify Payments and Shop Pay at checkout. At the same time, Coinbase decided to integrate DEX functionality on the Base chain directly into its main application. Even more surprisingly, the CFTC-regulated Coinbase announced the launch of 24/7 perpetual contracts in the U.S. market.

As the saying goes, "Slowly, then all at once," Coinbase has dropped a massive amount of positive news on the market in a short period of time. Whether this series of moves will enable Coinbase to surpass other exchanges and become the largest compliant crypto ecosystem remains to be seen.

When a S&P 500-listed Exchange Connects Its Own Blockchain

It’s worth noting that as a Layer 2 solution, Base has achieved remarkable success within just two years of its launch: 535 protocols, 1.23 million active addresses, $5.1 billion in total DeFi TVL, and $4.1 billion in total stablecoin volume. On top of that, Base stands out by leading all Layer 2 chains in UOPS (User Operations Per Second). It also ranks within the top five across all blockchains in terms of the number of protocols, protocol revenue, active addresses, DeFi TVL, and stablecoin volume.

Base has been actively experimenting with various on-chain business models, ranging from DID (Decentralized Identity) and creator economy to financial social networks and AI. For on-chain users, the frequency of ultra-high-market-cap "blockbuster tokens" is relatively lower compared to other DEGEN chains. However, for developers and product teams, Base represents fertile ground for consistently receiving "positive feedback," making it one of the most loved blockchains among developers.

Following in the footsteps of Binance and OKX, Max Branzburg, Coinbase's VP of Product Management, announced at yesterday’s 2025 Crypto Summit that Coinbase would integrate Base chain DEX functionality directly into its main application. In the future, the app will feature embedded DEX trading. Coinbase currently boasts over 100 million registered users and 8 million monthly active trading users. According to Coinbase's investor report, the value of client assets on the platform stands at $328 billion.

Retail traders account for only about 18% of transactions on Coinbase. Starting from 2024, the proportion of trading volume from institutional clients on Coinbase began to steadily increase (Q1 2024 trading volume reached $256 billion, accounting for 82.05% of total trading volume). With Coinbase integrating DEXs on the Base chain, this is expected to inject substantial liquidity into thousands of Base chain tokens. More importantly, many products in the Base ecosystem will potentially benefit from Coinbase's compliance pathway into the real world.

Coinbase institutional client trading volume, source: Backlinko

The first to respond to this news was Aerodrome, a leading DEX on Base, which announced that the DEX functionalities of the Base network would be integrated into the main Coinbase app. Following the announcement, its token $AERO surged nearly 30% within 24 hours; it then slightly pulled back to its current price of $0.62.

How Is Coinbase Unlocking the Large-Scale Stablecoin Market?

Collaboration with Shopify

On June 13, e-commerce platform Shopify announced a partnership with Coinbase and Stripe to support merchants in accepting the USDC stablecoin issued by Circle. Through this service, consumers in 34 countries can make payments using USDC on the Base chain. This partnership is expected to open up millions of merchants to USDC payments, with merchants having the option to receive payments in USDC or convert them into local fiat currency and have the funds deposited directly into their bank accounts.

At the same time, Coinbase and Shopify jointly introduced a "Commercial Payment Protocol," aimed at addressing the bottlenecks in cryptocurrency applications in the commercial payment scenario. The two companies have developed new custodial smart contracts on Base, enabling seamless integration of cryptocurrency payments in the e-commerce field. Authorization, invoicing, and refunds will also be handled in collaboration with Stripe, ensuring a completely seamless settlement experience for merchants using either local fiat currencies or USDC. In the future, this protocol will open APIs that require no knowledge of cryptocurrencies, while wallet integration will allow users to make payments directly through cryptographic signing.

As one of the world's most well-known standalone e-commerce platforms, Shopify has demonstrated growth trends that are visible to the naked eye in recent years. In 2023, Shopify's GMV (Gross Merchandise Volume) reached $235.91 billion, increasing to $292.28 billion by 2024, and $74.75 billion in Q1 2025, reflecting a 23% year-over-year growth.

Shopify's primary customers are in Europe and North America, regions where cryptocurrency compliance and adoption are relatively high. The advantages of USDC in cross-border payments and transfers could provide significant convenience to merchants operating mainly on Shopify. This collaboration might encourage a certain proportion of merchants to adopt this payment system.

Collaboration with American Express

On June 13, Coinbase announced a partnership with American Express to issue the Coinbase One Card, a cryptocurrency credit card exclusively for annual subscribers of Coinbase One. This marks the first time American Express has issued a crypto credit card.

The card offers multiple perks, including a fee-free threshold of $500 per month and up to 4% Bitcoin rewards on purchases. The more assets you hold on Coinbase, the higher your rewards rate will be.

However, Graham Stephan, a real estate investor with 5 million subscribers on YouTube, stated he would not choose the Coinbase One credit card but instead prefer the Robinhood Gold card. He explained, "You are required to hold a certain amount of assets on Coinbase, which would cost at least $10,250 to break even. In contrast, the Robinhood Gold card costs $50 annually and offers unlimited 3% cashback, which can be used to invest in BTC. Compared to standard 2% cashback cards, the Robinhood Gold card's break-even point is $5,000."

With the stellar performance of USDC issuer CIRCLE's recent listing on the U.S. stock market, USDC's transaction volume reached $76 billion this month, surpassing USDT to become the top stablecoin in the market.

However, as we can observe, whether it's in terms of supply volume, active user address numbers, or market share, USDC is only about one-third the size of USDT. Yet, with Coinbase bridging the gap between CeFi and DeFi, enabling online shopping pathways, and facilitating offline consumer spending channels, USDC’s growth is expected to sustain its upward momentum.

Reactivating the Contract Button for Americans

Aside from pushing forward in the stablecoin arena, Coinbase has also unleashed a “killer move” in trading. This series of actions responds to its last quarter's financial performance, in which its earnings per share (EPS), revenue, and platform transaction volumes experienced a collective decline. Compared to spot trading, which is more susceptible to market fluctuations, contract trading provides a more “stable” source of revenue.

Thus, Coinbase has implemented a series of key measures, the most significant being its recent announcement of launching 24/7 perpetual futures contracts in the U.S., compliant with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regulations. Prior to this, on May 9th, Coinbase had already launched 24/7 Bitcoin and Ethereum futures trading via its CFTC-regulated exchange, Coinbase Derivatives (formerly FairX, a CFTC-regulated derivatives trading platform). Additionally, in May, Coinbase completed its acquisition of Deribit, one of the largest cryptocurrency options exchanges globally. With this acquisition, Coinbase has officially entered the race for dominance in the derivatives market.

Deribit holds a strong influence in non-U.S. markets, especially in Asia and Europe. The acquisition granted Coinbase access to Deribit’s dominant market position in Bitcoin and Ethereum options trading, which accounts for “approximately 80% of the global options trading volume, with a daily trading volume exceeding $2 billion.” Furthermore, 80-90% of Deribit’s customer base consists of institutional investors, who highly value Deribit’s specialization and liquidity in Bitcoin and Ethereum options markets. This dovetails perfectly with Coinbase’s compliance advantages and its already robust institutional ecosystem, making it even more competitive. By using institutions as an entry point, Coinbase is better positioned to tackle market pressure from industry giants such as Binance and OKX in the derivatives space.

The U.S. market, following compliance crackdowns a few years ago, has seen little to no exchanges launching compliant derivatives. However, the U.S. market has always been a highly coveted “prize” for exchanges. For “American players,” the options outside of CME Group—which provides ETH and BTC options for institutions—are mostly unregulated on-chain exchanges, like Hyperliquid, which has been gaining traction recently. Coinbase’s unique “monopoly-like” market position gives it a shortcut to establish dominance in the derivatives sector.

As various CEXs face a slowdown in user growth at this stage and continue seeking new revenue streams, will the simultaneous rollout of multiple initiatives by Coinbase disrupt and reshape the current landscape of CEXs?

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