Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN) executives outlined an expansion strategy centered on diversifying beyond spot cryptocurrency trading, adding new trading products, scaling stablecoin and tokenization offerings, and building infrastructure for on-chain transactions.
Speaking at a GS Research event, President and COO Emilie Choi and Chief Financial Officer Alesia Haas said the company’s business has changed substantially since its 2021 public listing, when it primarily served retail and institutional spot-trading customers.
Coinbase holds roughly 12% of the world’s on-chain assets on its platform, according to Haas. She said the company is seeking to build durable infrastructure for consumers, institutions, fintechs, banks and corporations that want to offer crypto-related products.
Everything Exchange strategy
Choi described Coinbase’s “Everything Exchange” goal as creating a single platform where customers can trade “any asset, any time.” The company began with crypto spot trading but has since added derivatives, prediction markets and traditional equities.
Coinbase’s derivatives business reached an all-time high in market-share terms during the second quarter, Choi said. The company’s prediction-markets product, meanwhile, has reached a $100 million annualized revenue run rate and is among Coinbase’s fastest-growing revenue products, she said.
Haas said prediction-markets revenue and contracts doubled quarter over quarter after the product launched in the first quarter. Following the launch of crypto binary contracts, average daily traders increased threefold and average revenue increased fourfold, she said. Coinbase has also introduced “combos,” which Haas said have added further engagement.
The executives said they do not view prediction markets as cannibalizing existing trading revenues. Instead, Haas characterized the offering as an incremental way to engage customers through new types of contracts, including contracts tied to weather, politics and sports.
Looking ahead, Haas said Coinbase plans to expand the range of available prediction-market contracts and continue improving the six-month-old product. The company initially entered the market through a partnership with Kalshi, but Haas said Coinbase could explore additional partners or potential vertical integration over time.
Derivatives, liquidity and competition
Choi acknowledged that launching a perpetual-futures product may not be especially difficult by itself, but said operating a successful offering requires distribution, liquidity and execution. She pointed to Coinbase’s retail and institutional customer bases, international exchange, Prime offering and acquisition of Deribit, which she said made Coinbase the world’s largest crypto options exchange.
The company also received no-action relief from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to connect U.S. customers with global perpetual-futures liquidity. Choi called the development significant because it allows U.S. customers to access global perpetual futures compliantly rather than through workarounds such as virtual private networks.
Haas said access to global liquidity can improve customer outcomes by providing better prices and avoiding liquidity fragmentation by country. She also emphasized Coinbase’s status as a public company with a visible balance sheet, capital structure and control environment.
Coinbase now measures its share as a percentage of combined global crypto spot and derivatives activity and is “just over 10%,” Haas said. She cited international expansion, additional contracts and future margin and cross-collateralization capabilities as potential ways to increase trading activity on the company’s platform.
Regulation, stablecoins and tokenized equities
Choi said the regulatory environment has become more constructive, contrasting it with what she described as the prior administration’s approach of “regulation by enforcement.” She cited movement toward rulemaking at the Securities and Exchange Commission and CFTC, preliminary approval for an Office of the Comptroller of the Currency charter, the company’s MiCA license, and the previously passed GENIUS Act covering stablecoins.
Choi said Coinbase was watching the proposed CLARITY Act closely and views it as an accelerant rather than a prerequisite for product launches. She said the company continues to meet weekly with the SEC and CFTC to launch products in a compliant manner.
On stablecoins, Haas said transaction volume has increased even as supply has been relatively flat, reflecting uses beyond crypto trading, including payments and settlement. She said average USDC held on Coinbase’s platform reached an all-time high of $20 billion in the second quarter, while total USDC market capitalization reached a quarterly record of $77 billion.
Coinbase has launched tokenized equities internationally in partnership with Abu Dhabi Global Market, Choi said. She described the products as real tokenized shares with shareholder claims, dividends and portability for customers who complete know-your-customer verification. In the U.S., Choi said an SEC innovation exemption or sandbox would help the company launch such products while regulators observe the market and develop rules.
Base, costs and long-term opportunity
Haas distinguished between Base, Coinbase’s Ethereum-based chain, and the Base app, a self-custody wallet. She said the chain is intended to support fast, low-cost global transactions across payments, tokenized securities and other uses, while the app provides customers a way to hold assets directly in self-custody.
On expenses, Haas said Coinbase remains committed to positive adjusted EBITDA. The company reduced headcount by 14% and expects full-year 2026 expenses to be roughly flat with 2025, excluding changes in USDC Rewards. She said artificial intelligence has helped the company maintain product-development speed while lowering costs.
Choi said Coinbase’s broader ambition is to help disrupt the traditional financial system, which she estimated represents a $50 trillion total addressable market. She highlighted the company’s exchange, custody, brokerage, USDC distribution and agentic-finance capabilities as components of that opportunity.
About Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN)
Coinbase Global, Inc operates a digital asset and cryptocurrency platform serving retail users, institutions, developers and ecosystem partners. Through its exchange, customers can buy, sell, convert, store and transfer a range of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets. The company also provides an advanced trading platform for more experienced users and services designed for institutional trading and market access.
Its product offerings include custodial services, institutional prime brokerage and custody, staking services, a self-custody wallet, and tools that enable developers and businesses to build applications using blockchain networks.
