Coinbase Adds Stock Trading, Solana DEX, and Prediction Markets In Push To Become “Everything Exchange”

U.S. crypto giant Coinbase (Nasdaq: COIN) is officially expanding its services to bring multiple asset classes onto a single platform in a bid to become an “everything exchange”. This marks one of the most aggressive expansions in the exchange’s 13-year history.

In an announcement made during its year-end ‘System Upgrade’ conference in San Francisco, the publicly listed firm said that it will be introducing a broad range of new products, including stock trading, prediction markets, decentralized trading for Solana tokens, custom-branded stablecoins, perpetual futures, and payments infrastructure, among others.

Coinbase to Launch Spot and Futures Stock Trading Feature in 2026

On Wednesday, Max Branzburg, Coinbase’s head of consumer and business products, announced at the conference in San Francisco that stock trading is now available on the platform. He called the move a “major milestone” in Coinbase’s plan to enable trading of stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) “from anywhere in the world, powered by crypto”.

The exchange has already begun rolling out the feature to users in the United States via Coinbase Capital Markets Corp., allowing them to buy, sell, and manage stocks and ETFs alongside their crypto holdings, using either the U.S. dollar or USDC stablecoin within the same Coinbase account. Trading will be commission-free, with select stocks available 24 hours a day, five days a week. The company said it plans to add thousands of stocks in the coming months.

Coinbase is also set to launch a 24/7 perpetual futures market for stocks early next year. This will enable its 120 million global users to gain exposure to U.S. equities with up to 50x leverage. Branzburg highlighted that the exchange already offers more than 30 futures and perpetual contracts in the U.S. across crypto, commodities, and equity indices. Currently, Coinbase offers 15 perpetual contracts for cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), SOL, XRP, Cardano (ADA), Akash (AKT), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Dogecoin (DOGE), Magic Eden (ME), and Arbitrum (ARB).

The exchange framed its stock trading rollout as a step toward tokenized equities. While tokenized securities are not yet live, the company announced Coinbase Tokenize, a new institutional-grade platform designed to support the issuance and management of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs).

In an email to crypto media outlet CoinDesk, Branzburg said the company is focused on enabling RWA and tokenized assets, and the mechanism for getting it done is currently under development, with more details expected to be shared soon. He noted that Coinbase’s “regulatory vigor” puts it in a unique position to lead as the space matures.

“Coinbase is now the best place to trade every asset, not just crypto,” said CEO Brian Armstrong at the event.

Coinbase Integrates Kalshi’s Prediction Market and Solana DEX Jupiter 

Coinbase is dipping its toes in the widely popular prediction markets arena. The exchange has partnered with Kalshi to provide users with access to event-based tokenized contracts, allowing them to bet on the outcome of future events such as elections, games, and economic data. 

The company stated that at launch, all prediction market liquidity will be sourced from Kalshi, with plans to add support for other platforms in the future. These contracts can be traded for as little as $1 using the dollar or USDC, with positions displayed on the app interface alongside users’ existing crypto, equities, and cash balances.

Besides, Coinbase is expanding its in-app decentralized exchange (DEX) offering to include Solana-native tokens. The company will integrate Jupiter – the largest DEX aggregator on the Solana blockchain – directly into its app, enabling users to trade SOL tokens as soon as they launch without having to leave Coinbase or manually route trades across external exchanges.

Jupiter will handle price discovery and routing, while Coinbase will manage the user experience and wallet flow. The exchange noted that the Jupiter integration will provide traders with default access to over a million tokens deployed on Solana and its own Base network. The feature will be expanded to DEXs on other blockchains over time.

Companies can now Issue Custom Stablecoins Backed by USDC and Other Stablecoins Through Coinbase

Stablecoins are a centrepiece of Coinbase’s broader payments strategy. The world’s second-largest crypto exchange by trading volume also announced the launch of Custom Stablecoin, allowing companies to issue branded stablecoins that will be backed 1:1 by a flexible mix of USDC and other USD-pegged tokens as collateral instead of fiat.

Companies such as Flipcash, Solflare, and R2 are already exploring the product, according to Coinbase. The move positions the exchange in direct competition with stablecoin infrastructure providers such as Paxos and Anchorage. In October, Coinbase applied for a National Company charter from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), following other crypto firms such as Paxos, Ripple, BitGo, and Circle that also applied for similar trust charters with the regulator.

The license authorizes Coinbase to expand its regulated crypto services, including custody, payments, and settlement, nationwide under a unified federal framework without taking on traditional banking functions like deposits, loans, or insurance. The move is part of a strategic effort to build a modern financial system powered by digital assets.

Coinbase’s vice president of institutional product, Greg Tusar, said it has no intention to become a bank, and the charter is purely for fiduciary and trust services. Once approved, the charter would allow the company to launch new products such as integrated on-ramps and off-ramps, streamline institutional services, and reduce reliance on third-party banks for fiat transactions.

Coinbase Releases APIs for Crypto Products and AI-Powered Wealth Management Tool. Base App Now Available in Over 140 Countries

Coinbase is also expanding its developer platform, releasing APIs for crypto custody, payments, trading, and stablecoins. Companies such as Deel, Papaya, Routable, and dLocal are already using its APIs to launch products. 

In addition, the company showcased its x402 open payments protocol that allows stablecoin payments to be attached to web requests. This standard enables AI agents to pay for content and execute on-chain transactions autonomously, and has processed more than $200 million in annualized transaction volume over the past 30 days.

Coinbase also introduced Coinbase Advisor, an AI-enabled financial assistant that will be embedded directly in the app. The tool allows users to ask questions, build portfolios, and receive personalized recommendations based on various products and market data. The feature is currently being rolled out to early users under beta access. 

Meanwhile, the Base App, referred to as the company’s “everything app”, is now available in more than 140 countries. The app combines social feeds, trading, payments, and DApp discovery.

Coinbase Global (COIN) closed Wednesday’s session at $244.19 – down 4.78%