Coinbase Ventures eyes RWA perpetuals, AI in 2026 investment outlook

Coinbase Ventures, the venture capital arm of crypto exchange Coinbase, has released its investment outlook for 2026, pointing to emerging opportunities across real-world-asset (RWA) perpetuals, specialized exchanges, next-generation DeFi, and the intersection of crypto with AI and robotics.

Among Coinbase's top priorities is the expansion of RWA perpetuals beyond traditional crypto assets, according to its Tuesday blog post. The team noted that perpetual futures can create synthetic exposure to offchain assets — from private companies to macro economic data prints — without requiring the underlying asset to be secured. 

"As crypto becomes increasingly intertwined with macro markets, a more sophisticated trader base is seeking to express a wider range of views than simply being long digital assets," Kinji Steimetz, associate of Coinbase Ventures, wrote in the post. "This creates demand for macro asset exposure onchain, allowing traders to hedge or position through instruments tied to oil, inflation breakevens, credit spreads, and volatility."

In the realm of trading, Coinbase is keen on specialized exchanges, such as "Prop-AMMs" on Solana that are designed to protect liquidity providers from toxic flow, the post said. 

Coinbase is also keeping a close watch on trading terminals for prediction markets. The fragmentation currently plaguing the prediction market sector is fueling demand for unified trading terminals, according to Coinbase Ventures Senior Manager of Investments Jonathan King.

DeFi 2026

In DeFi, Coinbase highlighted major growth areas: the rise of composable perpetual  markets, which integrate features allowing traders to earn yield on collateral while maintaining leveraged positions, and the potential of unsecured onchain credit. It noted that reputation-based lending could capture a portion of the $1.3 trillion unsecured credit market in the U.S.

Privacy technology is another key opportunity in DeFi, Coinbase said, with demand rising for private order flow, borrowing, lending and payments that preserve user confidentiality without compromising verifiability.

Beyond financial infrastructure, Coinbase Ventures pointed to fast-emerging intersections between crypto, AI and robotics. The team suggested that 2026 might be the defining moment for smart contract development, with AI agents enabling non-technical founders to launch onchain businesses rapidly through automated code generation and security monitoring.

Coinbase's 2026 strategic priorities align with its recent deployment of capital across multiple sectors, including leading a $14.6 million round in stablecoin infrastructure firm Bastion in September. In the same month, it led a $5 million strategic round in user-owned data network Vana. Coinbase also participated in crypto payments firm Mesh's fundraise in August.