"The Exchange of Everything": How Coinbase Wants to Combine Stocks, Derivatives and Prediction Markets in One App

Coinbase has announced a large-scale overhaul of its main trading app — the company aims to turn it into an "exchange of everything", where it will be possible to trade not only crypto, but also tokenized real-world assets, stocks, derivatives, early token sales, and even prediction markets. This is not just a rebranding: we are talking about an attempt to create a single on-chain market for a variety of financial instruments.

According to Max Bransburg, Vice President of Products, the idea is to "put everything you want to trade in one place" and transfer more on-chain assets to make settlements faster and more global. In a similar vein, the company explains that the goal is to simplify access and give users the ability to keep different assets in one interface.

The start of the new functionality is scheduled for the United States - first, Coinbase will introduce new products there, and then enter international markets as soon as it receives the necessary licences and regulatory approvals. By industry standards, this is a typical strategy: test and compliance with local regulations first, then scale.

A special emphasis is placed on prediction markets: after a notable deal by Polymarket, which bought a CFTC-licensed exchange for $112 million, the segment has become especially discussed — and Coinbase clearly does not want to miss its share in a new round of interest in predictive contracts and events. For players, this means that such markets may soon appear within the familiar ecosystem, and not only on niche platforms.

In parallel with this initiative, Coinbase continues to develop the Base App, a rebranding of their wallet into a "WeChat-like" app that combines social, payments, and trading. The idea is not just to give access to trading, but to create a space where you can communicate, open projects, and conduct trades without leaving one program.

Context is important: against the backdrop of recent steps by US regulators — in particular, the launch of the SEC's initiative called "Project Crypto", aimed at updating the rules for digital assets and moving part of the "on-chain" trading infrastructure — large platforms have a real chance to legally expand the range of products and offer users new tools. This is not only a technological trend, but also a political and regulatory one a pause that the industry can take advantage of.

Short conclusion: Coinbase is betting on the unification of finances — to make a wallet and an exchange something like "everything in one", where you can communicate, invest, and play in prediction markets. If regulators give the go-ahead, this can significantly simplify access to new tools, but also increase the requirements for user attentiveness: new opportunities come with new risks.