Coinbase wallet returns, Base apps shift to trading functions

Coinbase restores the brand name of "Coinbase Wallet", focusing on multi-chain transactions and derivatives

More than a year after rebranding the app to "Base App", Coinbase officially restores the brand name of "Coinbase Wallet". The rebranding aims to reposition the self-managed product as a comprehensive platform focusing on multi-chain trading, perpetual contracts, predictive markets and tokenized stocks.

Core Functions and Market Positioning

Coinbase Wallet will serve as the main testing ground for assets that are not available on the Coinbase centralized exchange. The wallet supports 10 blockchain networks including recently joined Robinhood Chain and Monad. However, due to geographical limitations, American users are temporarily unable to use some premium products.

Coinbase confirmed through the official Google Play Store page that "Base App" has returned to the name of "Coinbase Wallet" as the product focus shifts to multi-chain transactions, transfers and revenue earning functions. Ryan Kass, product leader at Coinbase Wallet, said in a statement that the wallet will serve as a "test kitchen" for products that Coinbase may not be available on its centralized exchange. Once the long-tail tokens are minted on the supported networks, they will immediately appear in the wallet; in addition, the company plans to connect additional networks after more chains are launched.

Kass pointed out that transactions within the wallet are executed on-chain. Users can also follow selected traders and view their activities, a feature that helps them identify trading opportunities. Coinbase will continue to maintain the self-managed nature of the product, meaning customers retain control of their private keys and assets. Kass said wallets automatically identify and hide tokens classified as fraudulent or malicious assets.

Strategic shift from social experiment to financial core

In July 2025, Coinbase renamed Coinbase Wallet to Base App, trying to build it into a "super application" that integrates transactions, payments, messaging, social dynamics and applet built around its Base second-tier network. However, as social features failed to attract expected user activity, Coinbase began to restructure the app around financial products.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said in March that the company's social experiments were "not completely successful," and Base founder Jesse Pollak later admitted that the creator-centered product did not perform as expected. In July of the same year, Pollak handed over management of the application to Jordan "Cobie" Fish and turned his attention back to the Base blockchain. According to previous reports, Pollak said demand for social products has "completely dissipated," causing Base to lag behind its competitors in the forecast markets and perpetual contracts.

Kass said Coinbase was able to quickly adjust direction when product strategies failed to achieve the expected results. He described the Base App as an "experiment with a specific perspective" and believed that the restored name would more accurately reflect its positioning in the Coinbase product line. "The name 'Coinbase Wallet' better captures the product's role as a self-managed front-end portal to Coinbase, the gateway to the 'all-powerful exchange'. Although Base App is an experiment with a specific perspective, Coinbase Wallet gives users access to all online financial content."

Although the app has regained its old name, Coinbase still retains the trading and financial functions developed during the Base App. Messaging and other selected features will also continue to be available.

Hyperliquid perpetual contracts lead the wave of trading

Hyperliquid-driven perpetual contracts are the first example of the wallet's "test-field" model. Coinbase added integration in August, allowing eligible users to access more than 290 markets and gain up to 50x leverage on certain contracts.

The release of Hyperliquid perpetual contracts covers contracts linked to Bitcoin, Ethereum, stocks and commodities. Trades are executed by Hyperliquid, and users can open and manage positions through the Coinbase interface. Perpetual contracts allow traders to leverage long or short positions without holding the underlying asset. Unlike traditional futures, perpetual contracts have no expiration date, and funding fee payments between traders help keep the contract price near the spot price.

Coinbase said the integration is not available in restricted markets such as the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. The leverage multiple also depends on the asset selected, so not all contracts offer the advertised maximum leverage of 50 times. For U.S. clients, Coinbase operates an independent regulated futures service through Commodity Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs) registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Coinbase Financial Markets, a member of the National Futures Association (NFA). This regulated service is independent of Hyperliquid transactions within Coinbase Wallet.

Under the new brand logo, Coinbase promotes the wallet with the slogan "No KYC, no waiting, no borders." However, its website clearly states that individual products are still subject to location-based limits, and access rights depend on the user's jurisdiction. Coinbase generates revenue through in-wallet transactions and product fees, but the company did not provide specific details about the fee structure or release data to show whether the focus of transactions has increased the number of users.

Tokenized stocks and forecast markets face compliance review

Coinbase Wallet also provides eligible customers with access to forecast markets and tokenized stocks. According to Kass, Coinbase conducts "rigorous product and compliance reviews" before adding new markets or asset classes to apps.

Individual tokens follow different processes. Once minted on the supported chain, assets are available by default, although the wallet's detection system can hide tokens associated with fraud or harmful activity. In August this year, Coinbase launched four tokenized U.S. stocks on the Base network to provide non-U.S. investors with Apple, Nvidia, Meta and Alphabet exposure on the chain. These 1:1 mortgage stock tokens were issued through a company based on the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and controlled by Coinbase.

According to the product prospectus, each token represents a beneficial interest in the underlying shares held through a segregated custody arrangement. These securities are not registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 and may not be made available or sold to U.S. persons.

Predicts that markets face separate access issues in the United States. Coinbase Financial Markets maintains that federally regulated event contracts fall within the jurisdiction of the CFTC, but multiple states have challenged sports-related contracts under their gambling laws. In August, a federal judge denied Coinbase's request for immunity from enforcement actions by Michigan officials. The preliminary ruling leaves the underlying lawsuit unresolved while allowing the state to continue to maintain its sports betting jurisdiction.

Added Robinhood Chain and Monad support

After the brand change, Coinbase Wallet supports Base, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, BNB Chain, Optimism, Arbitrum, Polygon, Avalanche, Monad and Robinhood Chain. Robinhood Chain and Monad were not previously included in the Base App's list of supported networks.

Multi-chain support reduces the early focus on Coinbase's own second-layer network, but Kass said Base will remain at the core. As assets issued on Base gain market attention, they will appear alongside tokens from other supporting networks. "Base is still the core of Coinbase Wallet, and you will see Base assets naturally appearing in apps as trends go." Kass said.

According to Kass, displaying Base assets side by side with other network products will provide users with more ways to discover available tokens through self-hosted applications.