I saw a post on X about this integration a while back, but that got lost in the noise of everything else until today when Brian Armstrong, Co-founder and CEO of Coinbase, took to X to announce the slow roll out of dex trading within the Coinbase app, in the US.
We're starting the rollout of DEX trading in the U.S. (excluding NY). Our goal is to make Coinbase the simplest way to access onchain markets.
You'll be able to trade millions of @base assets in the Coinbase app.
Support for @solana is coming soon too. – Brian, via X post
Millions of assets are launching every day onchain, and now you can trade them all directly from the Coinbase app. With our decentralized exchange (DEX) trading integration, new assets become available to trade within moments of creation. Coinbase is now unlocking a new era of access, going from just 300 assets yesterday to millions before long, all tradable through the simple and familiar interface you already know.
DEX trading is now rolling out to select users in the U.S., excluding New York State.
To ensure a reliable trading experience, we will add support for new DEX assets in batches. Over the coming weeks, we will gradually expand our offerings with the goal of supporting the full range of Base assets. We encourage users to check for new assets on the Coinbase app as we continue to index more every day. – Blog announcement
The first word that came to mind when I saw the announcement was “distribution.”
What about it?
I am not exactly sure what the timeline was but DEXes have pretty much been merged with many global centralized exchanges through the introduction of non-custodial wallets within their exchange app.
Of course, what Coinbase is launching is nothing like that, it's a more seamless experience where there's possibly limited need to switch between interfaces or understand how to use the numerous dapps to facilitate trading on decentralized markets.
This is why the word “distribution” came to mind, but what really about it?
In business terms, distribution is about access + reach. You want to be the access point to which target markets reach and utilize a product or service.
It all comes down to being the critical infrastructure for global markets to explore crypto economies. This means that this integration can significantly increase Coinbase's influence, at the global stage (when it is pushed beyond the US).
Think about it. We have centralized exchanges gating their market reach (distribution) with outrageous listing fees and Coinbase just decides to give it all up for free by directly merging what makes any of these digital assets exist, the decentralized and on-chain layer.
Think about what the process looks and feels like when you jump on X and find a token trending and you have to first start researching where said token is listed and probably have to move funds around to get to it.
Coinbase, with this integration, would effectively eliminate that painful friction in moving from information discovery to deploying capital into an economy.
This creates an incentive for people to make Coinbase the primary platform to hold their capital as it would become the most flexible channel to access cross-chain markets with ease.