Coinbase Targets DeFi Domination With New Stablecoin Fund to Accelerate Onchain Growth
Coinbase is igniting a fresh DeFi liquidity surge with a powerful new stablecoin fund, targeting top protocols to fuel adoption, deepen markets, and accelerate onchain finance growth.
Coinbase Unveils New Stablecoin Bootstrap Fund to Amplify DeFi Liquidity
Crypto exchange Coinbase (Nasdaq: COIN) announced on Aug. 12, 2025, that it is launching a second Stablecoin Bootstrap Fund to increase stablecoin liquidity in decentralized finance (DeFi) capital markets. The fund will be managed by Coinbase Asset Management (CBAM). The program will start by placing capital into Aave, Morpho, Kamino, and Jupiter, aiming to strengthen stablecoin availability across DeFi platforms. The company stated:
Our goal is to ensure deeper liquidity for stablecoins across the onchain ecosystem, enabling users to access reliable rates across mature and emerging protocols.
Coinbase also signaled plans to collaborate with early-stage teams to embed liquidity
support from the beginning of their projects. The original Stablecoin Bootstrap Fund, launched in 2019 after Coinbase helped create USD Coin (USDC), supported liquidity on platforms including Uniswap, Compound, and dYdX. That early injection helped USDC grow into the leading stablecoin in DeFi, with $8.9 billion in total value locked and $2.7 trillion in annual onchain transaction volume.
Today, USDC operates on multiple blockchains such as Ethereum, Base, Solana, Hyperliquid, Sui, and Aptos, which Coinbase views as critical to its mission of advancing onchain finance infrastructure and adoption.
Coinbase plans to scale the relaunch over time, expanding coverage to more protocols and stablecoins. While some analysts caution that concentrating liquidity in a few dominant stablecoins could increase systemic risk, others view targeted liquidity programs as a way to enhance protocol stability, stimulate market growth, and improve capital efficiency. The initiative reflects Coinbase’s position that the future of finance will be built onchain and that deploying its own resources is a strategic step toward achieving that vision.
