Coinbase: The Complete Lifecycle Platform for Blockchain Protocols

Launching a token is hard. Scaling one after launch is even harder. Most protocols end up with separate vendors for the raise, custody, exchange listing, and trading. Every handoff slows you down, and each new contract is another thing that can break.

Coinbase covers it all. The proof of concept is in our track record. We’ve run 200+ funding rounds between Echo and Sonar and listed 400+ tokens on our exchange. We hold $246 billion Assets on Platform as of Q2’26. Our spot venue is the deepest regulated venue in the space, and we store more crypto than any other platform. Teams that start with us early get the most out of this, because we can take work off their plate at every stage.

Three recent projects show how this works in practice: when the pieces are connected, teams spend less time managing infrastructure and more time building.

Monad

Last November, an affiliate of Monad Foundation conducted a global public sale of MON (the native token for the Monad network) via the Coinbase token sales platform. The sale was broadly distributed and oversubscribed, and represented the first time in more than 7 years that U.S. individuals could widely participate in a token sale.

Monad Foundation wanted the initial distribution of MON tokens at the launch of Monad mainnet, an essential part of network utility, to reach a broad group of real users. We handled the heavy lifting around KYC, user support, and distribution. The Monad Foundation team felt that handing off those "critical, resource-intensive areas" was massively helpful.

With over 85,000 purchasers across more than 70 countries, the MON token sale was the most widespread token sale ever, built to prioritize broad participation over concentration. MON now trades on Coinbase's retail and exchange venues, is available to institutions through Coinbase Prime trading and Prime custody, and we extended support to USDC on Monad. One relationship covers the full stack: launch, retail and institutional markets, custody, and stablecoin rails. And today, MON has over 150,000 unique traders and $7.2 billion in spot volume on Coinbase.

The distribution thesis is playing out: the retail purchasers the sale reached became many of the network's first users and depositors, and Monad has grown into one of the largest and fastest-scaling onchain economies, with nearly $1 billion in DeFi TVL in under a year.

Ethena

Ethena shows a different side of the same platform story: what it looks like when a team uses Coinbase not only to launch, but to keep scaling after launch. Ethena had already been using Coinbase Token Manager to support token operations. ENA now has over 97,000 unique traders and $4.7 billion in spot volume on Coinbase. The work widened as the company grew. Ethena chose Coinbase Prime as its primary custodian, wallet provider, and perpetual venue while Ethena brings USDe to Base. That relationship also extended to Coinbase Retail with our launch of a High Yield USDC vault in DeFi Lend, helping Ethena gain over $350 million of new deposits. 

The work doesn't stop once a token launches or gets listed. Teams still need secure custody, solid infrastructure, trading access, and a way to reach users across different ecosystems. Ethena shows how Coinbase supports that full stretch, from token operations and claims at launch to the systems that help a protocol grow after.

Hyperliquid

If Monad shows how we can support a token sale, and Ethena shows how we can support growth after launch, Hyperliquid shows how our infrastructure performs at scale.

Hyperliquid needed rails that work at size, so Coinbase became the official treasury deployer of USDC on Hyperliquid, and in that role we completed the largest USDC transfer in history. At that level, it’s not just about getting to market. The infrastructure underneath has to be able to move that kind of size quickly, with no room for error.

Hyperliquid’s story is different from Monad’s and Ethena’s, but it shows why teams need infrastructure that can hold up as their ambitions get bigger. And the HYPE token? 84,000+ unique traders with $12.3 billion in spot volume on Coinbase.

Why this matters, and what comes next

Monad, Ethena, and Hyperliquid aren't the same kind of project, but they all show how a project or protocol’s lifecycle doesn't happen in one moment, and it doesn't happen the same way twice. Early work pays off later, because a clean raise leads to a smoother launch and a stronger listing. When every stage happens in one place, each step makes the next one easier. And when the raise, launch, listing, growth, and scale happen in one place – Coinbase – the sum is greater than its parts.

We’re also widening what that could look like. Last month, tokenized stocks issued by Coinbase, built on the B20 standard, went live natively on Base. These are real shares, held 1:1 by a regulated custodian, owned outright by whoever holds the token. Deeper support for tokenized equities and broader access to private markets are in the works, and we'll share specifics as each one goes live.

→ If you're building something, and you want fewer vendors and less operational overhead standing between you and the work that actually matters, come talk to us and check out our new website, Coinbase for Issuers.

_{Disclaimer: Tokenized Stocks are currently accessible through Base and may be subject to certain eligibility requirements, KYC, whitelisting, or jurisdictional restrictions, which may be subject to change. Tokenized Stocks are only available in eligible jurisdictions. You are solely responsible for conducting your own research and for compliance with applicable restrictions in your jurisdiction. Nothing in this post constitutes investment advice or a solicitation to transact in any tokenized security.}

_{References to third-party protocols, applications, services, and incentive programs are informational only, independent of Base and Coinbase, and do not constitute an endorsement, partnership, or warranty; third-party products and rewards are subject to their own terms and are not offered, funded, or guaranteed by Base or Coinbase, and users should conduct their own diligence. Base is a public, permissionless blockchain and does not issue, offer, sell, custody, or make markets in any tokenized security referenced in this post. Forward-looking statements reflect current expectations only and actual outcomes may differ materially; digital assets, tokenized securities, and DeFi activity carry risk of loss, including total loss of principal, and smart contract, protocol, and market risk.}