Coinbase’s $375M Echo Acquisition Set to Transform On-Chain Fundraising Landscape
Major exchange makes strategic power play in decentralized finance space
The Blockbuster Deal
Coinbase just dropped $375 million to acquire Echo—one of the largest strategic moves in recent crypto M&A history. This isn't just another corporate purchase; it's a direct assault on traditional fundraising models that still rely on paperwork and intermediaries.The On-Chain Revolution
Say goodbye to clunky fundraising processes. Echo's technology lets projects raise capital directly on-chain—cutting out middlemen, bypassing regulatory hurdles, and giving investors instant liquidity. It's about time someone disrupted the venture capital old boys' club.What This Means for Crypto
This acquisition positions Coinbase as the gateway for both retail and institutional investors to access early-stage crypto projects. While Wall Street bankers are still figuring out how to pronounce 'blockchain,' Coinbase just bought the entire playing field. Sometimes the best innovation strategy is writing a big enough check.The finance world's reaction? Probably another committee meeting to discuss forming a subcommittee.
- A few hours ago, Coinbase acquired Echo, a fast-rising on-chain crowdfunding platform founded by crypto trader Cobie.
- The new acquisition would allow Coinbase to leverage Echo’s Sonar tool and enable token sales across multiple blockchains.
Coinbase has reportedly bought Echo, an on-chain crowdfunding platform that allows random day-to-day users to participate in raising money for early-stage projects and startups. According to the reports shared by Coinbase and Echo, the deal was worth about $375 million.
What Does Echo Do?
Echo was created by a well-known trader in the crypto space, Jordan Fish. Jordan is known as Coble in the crypto community. The crowdfunding platform is still very new to the crypto space and has only existed for less than 2 years. One of the major things the platform aims to achieve is to help online communities pool funds together and then invest in private funding for crypto and blockchain startups that have been vetted.
Within the first eight months of operation, the platform successfully raised more than $51 million and completed 131 deals. One of its most successful fundraising projects was done with Ethena, the company behind USDe.
Echo and its users managed to raise about $300,000 privately for Ethena. Significantly, in May 2025, Echo also launched a new software tool called Sonar. The platform is designed to give startup founders the ability to host public token sales directly on their own chosenblockchains, like Solana, Base, Hyperliquid, or Cardano.
What Coinbase Aims To Achieve with The Acquisition
According to the blog post shared by the Coinbase official site, this acquisition is part of its long-term vision to make capital markets more open, transparent, and efficient. For a start, Coinbase plans to just make use of Echo’s Sonar platform to manage crypto token sales.
However, in the future, the crypto exchange wants to go beyond that by adding support for different crypto tokens and real-world assets; this step, if executed properly, could mark a new step in how traditional finance connects with blockchain technology.
Interestingly, this acquisition came just a day after Coinbase reportedly sent about $25 million in USDC to Cobie’s wallet. The payment was used to buy and burn an NFT and to also bring back his podcast called UpOnly, which had previously gone inactive. The CEO, Brian Armstrong, confirmed the news, saying “UpOnlyTv” is coming back.
So far, Cobie has expressed his surprise at the sale, saying that he never expected Echo to be acquired by Coinbase but was glad to see the deal happen. With this move, Coinbase is not just buying a startup; it’s also showing a clear interest in shaping the future of on-chain investing and crypto project fundraising.
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