Coinbase Global, Inc.

Coinbase has upgraded from a simple cryptocurrency exchange to a "cryptoeconomic infrastructure operator," forming a four-core business matrix:

1. Trading and Liquidity Hub

• As the largest compliant exchange in the United States, it offers spot, derivatives, and over-the-counter trading services, supporting trading of over 200 types of tokens. In 2025, it will acquire Europe's largest options exchange, Deribit, for $2.9 billion, incorporating its annual trading volume ($1 trillion) into the ecosystem, strengthening its dominance in the derivatives market.

2. Stablecoins and Payment Networks

• • USDC ecosystem leader: Co-issued USDC with Circle (market value $60 billion), profiting from reserve interest sharing (related revenue growth of 31.7% in Q1 2025).
• • Base Pay Payment Layer: A zero-fee payment system built on the self-developed Layer 2 network Base, supporting instant NFC mobile transactions of USDC, covering millions of merchants on Shopify, challenging the 2- 3% fee model of Visa.

3. Super Application (Base App)

• In July 2025, the original wallet will be upgraded to “Base Super App”, integrating:
• • Social Finance: Embedded in the Farcaster protocol, users can issue tokenized content (through Zora), directly earning USDC tips or resales;
• • AI Agency Economy: On-chain AI assistant developed with integrated AgentKit (Based Agent), automatically executing operations such as reinvestment and arbitrage, predicting that it will handle over 50% of on-chain transactions in the next five years;
• • Mini App Store: Open SDK for developers to deploy DApps and extract revenue shares (such as games, DeFi protocols).

4. Institutional-Level Services

• Providing compliance custody (managing assets over $128 billion) and pledge services for hedge funds and listed companies, with an annual revenue contribution exceeding $600 million.

The revenue structure of Coinbase has shifted from relying on transaction fees to a three-dimensional model of "transaction + subscription + ecosystem sharing":

1. Trading Fees (Percentage ~ 60%)

• Retail user fee rate 0.5% - 4.5%, institutional user 0.05% - 0.25%;
• • Derivatives become a new growth point: After acquiring Deribit, the average daily trading volume of derivatives surged 144% (Q2 2025).

2. Subscription and Service Revenue (Fastest Growth)

• • Coinbase One member: Monthly fee $29.99, provides no trading fees and priority support (Q2 2025 revenue $698 million);
• • Staking Revenue Sharing: Users stake ETH and other tokens to earn interest, with Coinbase taking a cut of 25% - 35%;
• • On-chain service fee: Base network verification transaction profit sharing, and USDC reserve interest sharing (annual potential earnings exceeding 1 billion USD).

3. Ecological Collaborative Benefits

• • Base super application revenue sharing: commission from content resale (Zora protocol), mini application transactions, and USDC payment flow;
• • Stablecoin issuance premium: USDC serves as the default settlement currency for the Base ecosystem, promoting its circulation expansion, with Coinbase sharing the issuance dividends.

(1) Transformative Impact on the Cryptocurrency Market

• Promote the mainstream adoption of stablecoins: Base ecosystem mandates the use of USDC for payments, upgrading it from a "transaction medium" to an "on-chain economic reserve asset," with merchants like Shopify integrating to create a demand increase in the tens of billions.
• Lower the threshold for Web2 users: Base Account smart wallet supports social login, eliminating the complexity of private key management, attracting non-crypto users into the ecosystem (aiming to double the user base to 100 million within 5 years). (2) Reconstructing Traditional Financial Logic
• Challenging payment giants: Base Pay achieves second-level USDC settlement, with fees approaching zero, squeezing Visa/Mastercard's market share in cross-border payments.
• Activate the on-chain programmable economy: AI agents automatically execute trading strategies (such as arbitrage and reinvestment), integrating capital flow with data flow, and promoting the realization of the "Money as Code" paradigm.

1. Stablecoin (USDC): Core Beneficiary

• • Rigid demand: Base ecosystem mandates the use of USDC for settlement, leading enterprises to passively increase their holdings to access the payment network, forming a reserve pool of tens of billions of dollars.
• • Circulation expansion: Collaborating with Visa to issue a stablecoin credit card, connecting with 150 million merchants globally, promoting USDC from the crypto space to the real world.

2. Ethereum ( ETH ): Infrastructure Value Capture

• • Base as an EVM-compatible chain, all Gas fees are settled in ETH, increasing the demand for burning and staking;
• • If the number of super application users reaches tens of millions, the annual consumption of ETH may exceed 10,000 tons (based on an average daily Gas fee of 30 Gwei).

3. Emerging Public Chains (such as Solana): Competitive and Cooperative Relationship

• • Supports multi-chain USDC settlement (including Solana), but the ecological privileges of the Base chain divert developers, and Solana's high-performance advantages may become an alternative for clearing expansion.