Coinbase Bets Big on On-Chain Capital Formation with $375M Echo Acquisition
Coinbase just dropped $375 million to double down on on-chain capital formation—because apparently traditional finance wasn't complicated enough.
The Strategic Move
Snapping up Echo signals Coinbase's aggressive push into decentralized capital markets. The acquisition positions the exchange giant to challenge traditional fundraising mechanisms that move at the speed of bureaucracy.
On-Chain Revolution
This isn't just another corporate purchase—it's a direct assault on legacy financial infrastructure. Coinbase aims to bypass the traditional gatekeepers who still think blockchain is just something you use to secure your bicycle.
Market Implications
The $375 million price tag shows Coinbase isn't playing around. They're betting that on-chain capital formation will eventually make traditional IPOs look as outdated as fax machines in a Zoom world.
Because nothing says financial innovation like spending nearly four hundred million dollars to prove Wall Street is about to get disrupted—again.
Coinbase doubles down on on-chain capital formation
Coinbase has acquired @echodotxyz.
Onchain capital formation is a vital and unique part of the crypto ecosystem. Excited to be adding Echo and Sonar to Coinbase to give our customers new token access opportunities. pic.twitter.com/3XIjxMu8cW
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) October 21, 2025
Echo helps startups to raise capital directly from their communities through either private or self-hosted public token sales using a product called Sonar. Coinbase said the initiative will help it build a full-stack solution for crypto fundraising.
The initiative aims to help startups get easy access to capital and tools like Echo that align fundraising with their user base. It also opens the door for investors to early-stage opportunities that were often gated behind private networks.
“Echo will remain a standalone platform under its current brand for now, but we will integrate Sonar’s public sale product into Coinase, and likely introduce new ways for founders to access investors, and for investors to access opportunities into Coinbase itself.”
–Cobie, Founder of Echo.
The crypto exchange revealed plans to expand Echo’s infrastructure beyond crypto over time. The company said it hopes to support tokenized securities and real-world assets eventually.
Coinbase revealed that Echo has pioneered tools that make fundraising more inclusive, transparent, and efficient. The firm wants to create more accessible, efficient, and transparent capital markets. The exchange noted that current founders often struggle to raise capital, and individual investors don’t have the opportunity to invest in private token sales.
Coinbase acknowledged that Echo complements its recent acquisition of Liquifi, which helps startups with token creation and cap table management. The firm said that although Liquifi helped strengthen its ability to support builders at the start of their journey, Echo extended that support into fundraising. The crypto exchange believes it can now support issuers and investors across a startup’s full lifecycle since it already supports listings, custody, staking, trading, and financing.
Liquifi is already integrated into teams like Uniswap Foundation, OP Labs, Zora, Ethena, and Ox, to help launch and manage their tokens. Coinbase said its goal is to bring more than a billion people on-chain by removing the barriers and providing both the product and the expertise to make token launches simple, compliant, and scalable.
Coinbase added that the initiative will help the firm partner more efficiently with builders earlier in their lifecycle, before tokens are launched or listed. The crypto exchange also plans to integrate such capabilities with Coinbase Prime to give issuers tools directly from its Prime platform.
Coinbase seeks to revive the UpOnly podcast
The rumors are true, we bought the NFT. @UpOnlyTV is coming back. pic.twitter.com/kbGNzjLoJQ
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) October 20, 2025
The latest Echo integration follows Coinbase’s acquisition of an NFT that compels Cobie’s crypto podcast UpOnly for approximately $25 million. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong revealed that the company bought the NFT to bring back the UpOnly podcast for a new season.
Jordan Fish/Cobie said during UpOnly’s last episode, which was uploaded to YouTube in December 2022, that he will no longer be the decision Maker if the podcast returns. Despite the firm paying $25 million for the NFT, it was listed on OpenSea for only 4.7 ETH ($18,500).
The non-fungible token also ranks fifth among the most expensive funds sold in crypto’s history. The podcast describes itself as a production that prioritizes entertainment before alpha, but mostly, there is neither.
The news caused a surge in Coinbase’s Layer-2 network Base activity, notably on a memecoin called UPONLY, which skyrocketed 5,800%. A Solana-based memecoin called UPONLY also hiked by 250% at the same time.
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