Coinbase is reverting the Base App to its former Coinbase Wallet name, just over a year after the rebrand, as the self-custodial app shifts focus from its social experiment toward trading. The wallet now spans more than 10 networks and adds perpetual futures, prediction markets, and tokenized stocks.
Coinbase is rebranding the Base App back to Coinbase Wallet, reversing the name change it made just over a year ago as the company shifts the self-custodial app toward trading and broader multichain access. The move follows Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong's admission in March that the Base app social experiment "didn't quite work".
Coinbase Wallet will act as a test kitchen for products and assets that may not be available through Coinbase's centralized exchange, according to Ryan Kass, Head of Coinbase Wallet Product. The first example is perpetual futures powered by Hyperliquid, alongside support for long-tail assets, prediction markets, and tokenized stocks. Because all trading on the wallet happens onchain, users can also follow other traders to gain additional alpha, Kass said.
Why Coinbase reversed course
Coinbase said the Base App had evolved into a broader, multichain trading platform, making it sensible to bring back the Coinbase Wallet name while keeping the best parts of the Base App. Kass said the company moves quickly and pivots when needed, adding that the Coinbase Wallet name better reflects the product's role as a self-custodial front door to Coinbase's broader exchange.
Coinbase is pitching the wallet on no KYC, no waiting, and no borders, saying users can download the app and start trading within minutes. However, some features remain subject to geographic restrictions, according to Coinbase's website. The wallet stays self-custodial, with users retaining their own keys, and Coinbase Wallet will detect and hide scam or malicious tokens. Assets become available by default once they are minted on a supported chain, Kass said, and new markets and asset classes, such as prediction markets or tokenized stocks, go through compliance reviews before appearing in the app, he added.
Coinbase monetizes the wallet through trading and product fees, though it declined to share details on the fee structure. The company also declined to disclose whether the shift toward trading has increased the app's user numbers.
A yearlong social experiment ends
Coinbase renamed Coinbase Wallet as the Base App in July 2025, pitching it as an all-in-one app combining social networking, mini-apps, messaging, payments, and trading. In July, Base creator Jesse Pollak handed leadership of the app to Jordan "Cobie" Fish after acknowledging that some of its social and creator features had fallen short.
Coinbase Wallet now supports Base, Robinhood Chain, Solana, Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB Chain, Monad, Optimism, Arbitrum, Polygon, and Avalanche following the rebrand, with plans to keep expanding. Robinhood Chain and Monad are new additions compared with the networks the Base App previously supported. Base will still play a prominent role, with Kass saying Base assets will naturally surface in the app as they trend.
Source: The Block
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