- Business
- Coinbase Global, Inc. (Nasdaq: COIN; FSE: 1QZ) operates the leading U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange platform, providing secure access to digital assets for retail consumers, institutional investors, merchants, and developers worldwide. Founded in 2012 by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam and headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, with primary operations centered in San Francisco, California, the company serves over 100 million verified users across more than 100 countries and manages approximately $516 billion in assets on its platform, including 12% of circulating bitcoin and 11% of staked Ether. Core products and services encompass retail offerings such as the Coinbase app for buying, selling, and storing cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and over 250 others; Coinbase Wallet for self-custody and decentralized application access; Coinbase One subscription for premium features; Advanced Trade (formerly Coinbase Pro) for professional trading tools; Coinbase Card for spending crypto with rewards; Earn for staking rewards on supported assets; USD Coin stablecoin; NFT marketplace; and Direct Deposit for payroll in crypto or USD. Institutional and business solutions include Coinbase Prime brokerage platform with liquidity and custody; Coinbase Custody for cold storage of digital assets; Institutional trading and derivatives via International Exchange; Commerce for merchant crypto payments; Exchange for direct market access; Data Marketplace for analytics; Listings program for new assets; Ventures for startup funding; and developer tools like APIs, Wallet-as-a-Service, and the Base layer-2 blockchain network. Recent major developments include the October 2025 acquisition of Echo, an on-chain capital formation platform, for $375 million to enhance token issuance and fundraising capabilities integrated with Base and Prime; the May 2025 acquisition of Deribit, the leading crypto options exchange, for $2.9 billion to expand global derivatives trading with $30 billion in open interest; rebranding of Coinbase Wallet to Base app in November 2025 combining social, trading, and payments features; a partnership with Kalshi announced in November 2025 to introduce prediction markets; addition of Apple Pay support to the Onramp platform in December 2024; dismissal of the SEC lawsuit in February 2025; inclusion in the S&P 500 index in May 2025; and expansion of physical offices including a Charlotte, North Carolina compliance hub in June 2025. Coinbase maintains a remote-first model with 4,700 employees while prioritizing regulatory compliance, operating as the world's largest bitcoin custodian and advancing on-chain infrastructure for the cryptoeconomy.