Coinbase has doubled down on tokenized assets, naming Centrifuge its preferred tokenization infrastructure and taking a strategic equity stake in the firm.
Under the agreement, Centrifuge will play a larger role across Coinbase’s ecosystem — including for products built on Base — and the companies say the first wave of institutional assets should begin launching on Base in the coming weeks. The arrangement is positioned to give external asset managers a vetted infrastructure path to issue onchain products via Coinbase, though the relationship does not appear to be exclusive.
Why it matters
- Coinbase is aggressively expanding into tokenized capital markets — from ETFs to credit and structured products — and needs reliable middle‑ and back‑office plumbing to scale those offerings. Centrifuge provides that kind of infrastructure.
- The move signals Coinbase’s intent to make Base a primary rails layer for institutional RWA (real‑world asset) issuance.
Centrifuge at a glance
- Centrifuge already powers onchain strategies for major asset managers including Apollo, Janus Henderson and S&P Dow Jones Indices.
- Its total value locked crossed $1 billion in mid‑2025 and sits at roughly $1.66 billion today, per DeFiLlama.
- “What matters now isn’t getting assets onchain, it’s getting the right assets onchain in the right way,” Centrifuge CEO Bhaji Illuminati said.
Market context
- The tokenized RWA market has grown to about $27 billion onchain, with tokenized treasuries and other fixed‑income products making up roughly $16 billion of that total.
- The sector is currently led by platforms such as Securitize and Ondo Finance, alongside major players like Tether and Circle, which are active with tokenized gold and money‑market products.
How Coinbase is already experimenting
Coinbase is not banking everything on one partner. Coinbase Asset Management recently said it will issue a CUSHY stablecoin credit fund through Superstate’s FundOS platform, and in March it worked with Apex Group to tokenize a share class of its Bitcoin Yield Fund on Base. Coinbase Ventures had previously backed Centrifuge in a 2022 strategic round.
A sharp pivot amid cost cuts
The Centrifuge announcement comes the same day Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong disclosed layoffs affecting 14% of staff, citing redundancy brought on by new AI tooling — a reminder that the firm is reshaping operations even as it pushes into new product frontiers.
Bottom line
Coinbase’s investment in Centrifuge strengthens its tokenization toolkit and advances its Base strategy for institutional issuance. With the first institutional tokenized assets expected soon, the deal will be a key test of whether Coinbase can convert RWA momentum into scalable, widely adopted onchain products.
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