The deal adds Echo’s community-based capital raising tools to Coinbase’s growing on-chain infrastructure stack.
Coinbase, the largest U.S.-based centralized crypto exchange (CEX), announced on Tuesday that it has acquired blockchain fundraising platform Echo in a deal valued at approximately $375 million in cash and stock.
The acquisition aims to connect crypto builders with community capital and give users access to new investment opportunities. Echo was co-founded by crypto investor Jordan “Cobie” Fish, who also co-founded the decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Lido.
In a podcast with Blockworks, Shan Aggarwal, Coinbase’s chief business officer, said the acquisition gives Coinbase the components and capability to “rebuild the capital market stack from end to end” and “provide all of those different pieces within the coinbase product suite.”
Aggarwal added that Cobie will also be joining Coinbase as an employee, though he did not elaborate on his role or how long he will remain with the company.
Since its launch, Echo has facilitated over $200 million in fundraising across roughly 300 deals, according to a company announcement. Coinbase said it plans to integrate Echo’s Sonar platform for public token sales.
The deal expands Coinbase’s presence in token fundraising and builds on its July acquisition of Liquifi – a platform that helps projects create tokens, manage ownership, and maintain regulatory compliance for Coinbase Prime users.
“Onchain capital formation is a vital and unique part of the crypto ecosystem,” Coinbase CEO and co-founder Brian Armstrong said in a post on X. “Excited to be adding Echo and Sonar to Coinbase to give our customers new token access opportunities.”
Meanwhile, Cobie reflected on the sale in a separate post on X. “I certainly didn’t think Echo would be sold to Coinbase, but here we are,” the founder wrote. “The job’s not finished. Onwards.”
Coinbase did not immediately respond to The Defiant’s request for comment.
The acquisition aligns with Coinbase’s broader vision of becoming an “everything app.” Earlier this year, the company rebranded its wallet app as Base, which now combines a web3 wallet, trading, payments, messaging, and mini apps. Coinbase said it also plans to offer tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), stocks, derivatives, and prediction markets.
This comes amid a broader trend of crypto and fintech platforms, including X and Robinhood, moving toward a “super app” model like China’s WeChat, which combines financial services and communication tools in a single platform.
Coinbase went public on the NASDAQ in 2021. This past May, it was included in the S&P 500. The company’s stock, COIN, is currently changing hands at $342, flat on the day.
Source: https://thedefiant.io/news/cefi/coinbase-acquires-echo-for-usd375-million-to-expand-onchain-fundraising
