US cryptocurrency giant Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) is officially expanding its services to bring multiple asset classes onto a single platform, with the aim of becoming an “exchange for everything.” This is one of the most aggressive expansions in the exchange’s 13-year history.
In an announcement at the System Upgrade conference held in San Francisco at the end of the year, the publicly traded company said it would introduce a range of new products including stock trading, prediction markets, decentralized trading of Solana tokens, custom-branded stablecoins, perpetual futures, payments infrastructure and more.
Coinbase to launch spot and futures stock trading capabilities in 2026
On Wednesday, Coinbase’s head of consumer and business products, Max Branzburg, announced at a conference in San Francisco that stock trading is now available on the platform. He called the move a “major milestone” in Coinbase’s plans to enable trading of stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) “from anywhere in the world using cryptocurrencies.”
The exchange has already begun rolling out this feature to users in the United States through Coinbase Capital Markets Corp., allowing them to buy, sell, and manage stocks and ETFs along with their crypto holdings using either USD or USDC stablecoins within the same Coinbase account. Trading is commission-free and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on select stocks. The company said it plans to add several thousand shares in the coming months.
Coinbase also plans to launch a 24/7 perpetual futures market for stocks early next year. This will enable 120 million users around the world to gain exposure to US stocks with up to 50x leverage. Branzburg emphasized that the exchange already offers more than 30 services. Futures and perpetual contracts In the US, it spans cryptocurrencies, commodities, and stock indexes. Coinbase currently offers perpetual contracts for 15 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), SOL, XRP, Cardano (ADA), Akash (AKT), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Dogecoin (DOGE), Magic Eden (ME), and Arbitrum (ARB).
The exchange positioned the rollout of stock trading as a step toward the tokenization of stocks. Although tokenized securities are not yet available, the company announced Coinbase Tokenize, a new institutional-grade platform designed to support the issuance and management of tokenized real-world assets (RWA).
In an email to crypto media outlet CoinDesk, Brunsberg said the company is focused on enabling RWA and tokenized assets, and that the mechanisms to make this happen are currently in development and further details will be shared soon. He noted that Coinbase’s “regulatory dynamism” puts it in a leadership position as the space matures.
“Coinbase is currently the best place to trade not just cryptocurrencies but any asset.” CEO Brian Armstrong said at the event.
Coinbase integrates Kalshi’s Prediction Market with Solana DEX Jupiter
Coinbase is dipping its toes into the widely popular field of prediction markets. The exchange has partnered with Karshi to provide users with access to event-based tokenized contracts, allowing them to bet on the outcome of future events such as elections, matches, and economic data.
The company said that at launch, all prediction market liquidity will be powered by Kalshi, with plans to add support for other platforms in the future. These contracts can be traded for as little as $1 using USD or USDC, and positions are displayed on the app’s interface alongside the user’s existing crypto, stock and cash balances.
Additionally, Coinbase is expanding its in-app functionality Decentralized exchange (DEX) We suggest including Solana native tokens. The company will integrate Jupiter, the largest DEX aggregator on the Solana blockchain, directly into the app, allowing users to trade SOL tokens right after launch without having to leave Coinbase or manually route trades between external exchanges.
Jupiter handles price discovery and routing, while Coinbase manages the user experience and wallet flow. The exchange noted that the Jupiter integration provides traders default access to over 1 million tokens deployed on Solana and its proprietary Base network. This feature will be extended to DEXs on other blockchains over time.
Companies can now issue custom stablecoins and other stablecoins backed by USDC through Coinbase
Stablecoins are at the heart of Coinbase’s broader payments strategy. The world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume also announced the launch of a custom stablecoin. This will allow companies to issue branded stablecoins that are backed 1:1 by a flexible combination of USDC and other USD-pegged tokens as collateral instead of fiat currency.
According to Coinbase, companies such as Flipcash, Solflare, and R2 are already considering the product. This move puts the exchange in direct competition with stablecoin infrastructure providers such as Paxos and Anchorage. In October, Coinbase filed for a domestic corporate charter with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), following other crypto companies such as Paxos, Ripple, BitGo, and Circle, which have also filed similar trust charters with regulators.
The license will allow Coinbase to expand its regulated cryptocurrency services, including storage, payments, and settlement, nationwide under a unified federal framework without taking over traditional banking functions such as deposits, loans, and insurance. The move is part of a strategic effort to build a modern financial system that leverages digital assets.
Greg Tassar, Coinbase’s vice president of institutional products, said the company has no intention of becoming a bank and its charter is purely for fiduciary and trust services. If approved, the charter will allow the company to launch new products such as integrated on- and off-ramps, streamline institutional services, and reduce reliance on third-party banks for fiat transactions.
Coinbase releases API for crypto products and AI-powered asset management tools. Basic app now available in over 140 countries
Coinbase is also expanding its developer platform and releasing APIs for cryptocurrency storage, payments, trading, and stablecoins. Companies such as Deel, Papaya, Routable, and dLocal have already launched products using its API.
Additionally, the company introduced the x402 Open Payments Protocol, which allows stablecoin payments to be attached to web requests. The standard enables AI agents to pay for content and perform on-chain transactions autonomously, processing over $200 million in annual transaction volume in the past 30 days.
Coinbase also introduced Coinbase Advisor, an AI-enabled financial assistant built directly into the app. This tool allows users to ask questions, build a portfolio, and receive personalized recommendations based on various product and market data. This feature is currently being rolled out to early users under beta access.
Meanwhile, the company’s Base app, dubbed “All Apps,” is currently available in more than 140 countries. This app combines social feeds, transactions, payments, and DApp discovery.
Coinbase Global (COIN) fell 4.78% to close at $244.19 on Wednesday.
