Author: Fairy, ChainCatcher
Editor: TB, ChainCatcher
Coinbase has been quite active recently.
On the one hand, it applied to the US SEC to launch stock tokenization transactions; on the other hand, it teamed up with Shopify to allow consumers in 34 countries to shop with USDC on the Base chain; at the same time, it also supports all Base ecological assets through DEX.
Coinbase's ambition is becoming fully apparent with its full range of layouts, including coins, stocks, payments, contracts, and a closed loop on its own public chain Base.
"On-chain brokerage": Coinbase's dream of a super portal
According to Reuters, Coinbase is seeking approval from the US SEC to provide users with stock tokenization trading services. Once approved, users will be able to trade tokenized assets representing US stocks through blockchain technology. Coinbase will directly compete with traditional retail brokers such as Robinhood and Charles Schwab, and is also expected to open up its new on-chain securities business.
Behind this move is a rapidly rising market: this year, the overall market value of the RWA field has grown from US$15.7 billion in January to the current US$23.9 billion, an increase of more than 50% in just a few months.
Photo: rwa.xyz
Coinbase is not the only player who has seen this trend. Last month, its main competitor Kraken announced that it would launch a US stock token product "xStocks" outside the United States, covering more than 50 stocks and ETFs such as Apple, Tesla, and Nvidia in the first batch. The product is deployed on the Solana blockchain and supports 24/7 trading.
However, if Coinbase wants to implement this model in the United States, it still needs to overcome the high regulatory threshold: it must obtain a "no objection letter" or exemption license from the US SEC. Under current regulations, all institutions providing securities trading services must hold a brokerage license. Fortunately, Coinbase acquired Keystone Capital, which holds the license, as early as 2018. Although the subsidiary has not yet been actually used, Coinbase is theoretically qualified to provide similar services.
In addition, Paul Grewal, chief legal officer of Coinbase, also made it clear that the stock tokenization business is the company's current "high priority" strategic direction. If this model is successfully implemented, Coinbase is expected to break the traditional brokerage pattern and launch a direct impact on Wall Street on the chain.
Coinbase's strategic fulcrum: Base
Coinbase is fully promoting the Base chain, trying to build it into the underlying infrastructure and strategic center of the chain's financial closed loop.
Recently, Jesse, head of Base, said that Coinbase has launched all Base ecological assets through the DEX mechanism, and users can directly use CEX account funds for seamless transactions. This means that once the projects on Base are issued, they can reach all Coinbase platform users at the first time. And this has brought huge gains to Base in terms of liquidity and market attention.
In real payment scenarios, Coinbase is also pushing Base to break through the circle faster. On June 13, e-commerce platform Shopify announced a partnership with Coinbase and Stripe to allow merchants to accept USDC as a payment method. Consumers can now use USDC on the Base chain to check out and shop in 34 countries.
Traditional financial giants have also included Base in their on-chain experiments. Today, JPMorgan Chase announced that it will pilot the issuance of JPMD tokens on Base to represent US dollar deposits. JPMD is scalable and may support interest-bearing and deposit insurance in the future, and is regarded as a compliant alternative to stablecoins. This shows that large institutions are actively exploring the compliant issuance, circulation and settlement paths of on-chain assets, and Base may become an important foothold for banks, securities firms, payment platforms, etc. to "go on the chain".
From a strategic perspective, Base is a key bridge for Coinbase to the on-chain primary market, on-chain securities firms, on-chain payments, and even "on-chain banks." Base carries the ecological activity, while Coinbase uses CEX to recycle the entry and assets.
From stock tokenization, to on-chain payments and stablecoins, to the issuance experiment of large institutional assets, Coinbase attempts to use the three major tools of coins, stocks, and chains to build a "on-chain financial empire" that can operate in compliance. However, the ever-changing regulatory policies, the fierce competition among competitors, and the deep integration of technology and compliance are all unavoidable tests for the expansion of this "empire".
