A new product is coming out soon! Coinbase is moving towards becoming a “universal exchange”

Against the backdrop of intensified competition in the crypto trading industry, Coinbase held a press conference titled “System Update 2025” in mid-December, signaling its intention to expand its services. With the continuous growth of Bitcoin ETFs and other blockchain-based applications, Coinbase has announced plans to expand its services beyond cryptocurrency trading to include stock trading, advanced trading tools, and prediction markets. At the same time, the company is strengthening its blockchain ecosystem and developer tools. These products are now ready to be launched, marking the beginning of Coinbase’s efforts to become a comprehensive financial platform that offers both traditional financial services and blockchain-based infrastructure.

The stock trading feature is now available.

At the core of this business expansion is Coinbase’s entry into the stock trading market. The service is currently being offered to users in the United States. This feature allows users to trade, manage, and buy/sell stocks, ETFs, and other cryptocurrencies using their Coinbase accounts, with the option to use US dollars or USDC as payment methods.

This trading feature offers permanent commission-free trading. Some stocks will also have extended trading hours, available five days a week, 24 hours a day. Initially, it will focus on popular stocks and ETFs, but in the coming months, the list of supported assets will expand to thousands of options.

In addition to spot stock trading, Coinbase is also preparing to launch perpetual futures contracts related to stocks, enabling users outside the United States to invest in US stocks more efficiently. The company plans to expand the range of perpetual futures contracts soon, starting from early next year.

In addition, although tokenized stocks have not been officially launched yet, Coinbase plans to introduce Coinbase Tokenize. This platform aims to facilitate the issuance and management of tokenized assets, including stocks. More details are expected to be revealed in 2026.

By integrating cryptocurrencies with traditional stock trading within one app, Coinbase aims to directly compete with traditional brokers like Robinhood.

Coinbase also announced its entry into the field of prediction markets.

By collaborating with regulated prediction market platform Kalshi, Coinbase will offer event-based contract trading services. Users can place bets on events such as elections, sports events, economic indicators, etc. The prices of these event-based contracts will be determined by the collective trading activities of market participants.

Coinbase stated that initially, all prediction market contracts will come from Kalshi, but in the coming months, it will support contracts from more prediction market platforms.

This feature is currently being rolled out to US users gradually. The minimum price for contract trading is just $1, and transactions can be made in USD or USDC. In the Coinbase app, users’ position information will be displayed alongside their existing cryptocurrency, stock, and cash balances.

Other new products and features

Simplified perpetual contract trading

Coinbase will introduce a simplified futures and perpetual contract trading experience in its app. The new interface makes it easier for users to understand how futures and perpetual contracts work. Users can engage in leveraged trading with less upfront capital, using a simplified experience similar to spot trading.

Expanded DEX trading within the app

Coinbase will also support immediate trading of all Solana assets. The Jupiter DEX aggregator for the Solana ecosystem has been integrated into the Coinbase interface. This integration allows users to trade immediately after Solana tokens are issued. Jupiter will be responsible for price discovery and routing, while Coinbase will handle user experience and wallet processes.

This service will be launched over the next few weeks, with priority given to users in the United States, before expanding to other networks. Coinbase states that currently users can access millions of assets on Solana and its own Base network. In the future, they plan to expand the DEX functionality to other networks as well.

Coinbase Advisor

Coinbase is launching an AI-driven wealth management tool called Coinbase Advisor, offering professional financial advice to users. This AI financial assistant is integrated directly into the app, allowing users to ask questions, build investment portfolios, and receive personalized recommendations based on Coinbase’s product and market data. Beta versions of Coinbase Advisor are currently being offered to early users.

Coinbase Business

Coinbase is further expanding its financial services for businesses. Coinbase Business is now available to eligible enterprises in the United States and Singapore. This is a specialized financial platform designed for startups and small to medium-sized businesses, helping them to utilize the speed, reach, and efficiency of cryptocurrencies to manage their daily operations.

This product enables startups and small businesses to send and receive funds worldwide, manage encrypted assets, earn rewards in USDC, and automate their financial processes. Coinbase announced that enterprise users will soon enjoy the same advanced trading features as retail investors.

Custom stablecoins

Coinbase also introduced new features related to stablecoins, including the ability for enterprises or projects to create their own custom stablecoins, with support for flexible collateralization of assets like USDC. Coinbase mentioned that its early partners include Flipcash, Solflare, and R2.

This move positions Coinbase as a direct competitor to stablecoin infrastructure providers like Paxos and Anchorage. Coinbase has also applied for a National Trust Company (NTC) license from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The application is still being reviewed.

Improving payment infrastructure

Coinbase will also expand its developer platform by providing APIs for hosting, payment processing, trading, and stablecoin management. Coinbase stated that companies like Deel, Papaya, Routable, and dLocal are already using Coinbase’s payment APIs.

Meanwhile, Coinbase highlighted x402, an open payment standard that allows for the integration of stablecoin payments into web requests. Coinbase mentioned that it is working with Cloudflare and other partners to develop the x402 Foundation, aiming to further improve this standard.

Coinbase emphasizes that this system update is aimed at creating a future-oriented financial system: one that remains online at all times, more efficient, and more inclusive. After the announcement, Coinbase’s stock price rose slightly by around 1.5% after the market closed. Some analysts believe that although these new features may not significantly increase revenue in the short term, they could potentially create hundreds of billions of dollars in new revenue opportunities in the long run (such as prediction markets and tokenized stocks). This announcement could mark a key step in Coinbase’s transformation from a mere cryptocurrency exchange to a comprehensive financial platform. Coinbase previously stated its goal of becoming an “Everything Exchange,” a one-stop platform that allows users to trade various assets anytime, anywhere. If these features are successfully implemented, it could further promote the integration of cryptocurrencies with traditional finance.