Coinbase Is Building Wall Street on Chain

In 2025, Coinbase unveiled Tokenize, a full-stack platform designed to bring real-world assets (RWAs) on-chain. This isn’t a pilot or a side project — it’s a strategic leap into institutional finance. Tokenize offers end-to-end infrastructure for issuing, managing, and trading tokenized assets, including equities, private companies, funds, and real estate.

What makes this move powerful is Coinbase’s vertical integration. It already operates a regulated exchange, institutional custody (Coinbase Prime), a stablecoin (USDC), and its own Layer 2 blockchain (Base). Tokenize ties these together into a seamless RWA ecosystem.

The platform is built for both retail and institutional users, unlike most bank-led tokenization efforts. Assets issued through Tokenize can settle in USDC, trade on Coinbase Exchange, and live on Base — enabling 24/7 liquidity, programmable compliance, and transparent audit trails.

Coinbase is betting that RWAs will be the next wave of crypto adoption. According to its own research, tokenized assets have grown 245× since 2020, reaching over $21 billion in early 2025. With Fortune 500 firms increasingly exploring on-chain strategies, Tokenize positions Coinbase as the infrastructure layer for the future of finance.

This is more than digitization — it’s a re-architecture of capital markets. And Coinbase is building it from the ground up.