Coinbase has reverted the Base App, which has been running for just over a year, back to Coinbase Wallet, designating this self-custody application as a multi-chain trading entry point and a "test kitchen" for launching products and assets not yet offered by centralized exchanges.

Product lead Ryan Kass told the media that the name Coinbase Wallet better indicates it as the self-custody front door to the "everything exchange"; the Base App was a viewpoint-driven experiment, while the wallet allows users to access all on-chain finance. CEO Brian Armstrong acknowledged in March that the social experiment "didn't really work," leading to the app's pivot towards trading and becoming a self-custody version of the main site. In July 2025, the company had transformed the wallet into a multifunctional app integrating social features, mini-programs, messaging, payments, and trading, concluding internal testing in December and opening to over 140 countries. After the creator tokens and social growth did not meet expectations, the brand withdrew the app about 14 months later.

The wallet now supports over 10 networks: Base, Robinhood Chain, Solana, Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB Chain, Monad, Optimism, Arbitrum, Polygon, and Avalanche, with Robinhood Chain and Monad being new additions compared to the Base App list. In August, it integrated perpetual contracts executed by Hyperliquid, allowing eligible users to trade over 290 markets, with some contracts offering leverage up to 50 times, covering Bitcoin, Ethereum, stocks, and commodities, with positions opened and closed on the Coinbase interface and transactions executed on Hyperliquid. Long-tail tokens can appear after being minted on supported networks, and the wallet will automatically recognize and hide tokens flagged as scams or malicious.

Prediction markets and tokenized stocks are available to eligible users, with new asset classes undergoing strict product and compliance reviews; U.S. users still cannot access some features due to geographic restrictions. The company emphasizes "no KYC, no waiting, no borders," allowing trading within minutes after download, while the website specifies that individual features are subject to jurisdictional constraints. Revenue comes from on-chain trading fees and social following. The Base chain is still overseen by Jesse Pollak, while the app side was handed over to Jordan Fish in July this year, with the acquisition of its financing platform Echo costing about $375 million in cash and stock; Pollak stated that the app will be "less centered on Base" after becoming a trading tool.

The buy side consists of self-custody users trading perpetual, prediction contracts, tokenized stocks, and long-tail coins outside the centralized list, while the sell side involves retracting the narrative of a social multifunctional app and repositioning Coinbase as a trading entry point. Funds bypass the compliant order book of the main site to execute permissionless or weakly-permissioned transactions in the wallet, with stock tokens on Robinhood Chain and perpetuals on Hyperliquid initially tested in the wallet before considering integration into the retail main site. Beneficiaries include multi-chain trading volume and third-party execution protocols, while the pressure is on Base as a consumer brand and the still-geographically-gated U.S. users—renaming back to Wallet does not eliminate boundaries.

Source: Public Information