Coinbase launches a new platform for retail investors to buy crypto tokens before exchange listings

Coinbase has launched a new crypto token sales platform that puts retail investors directly into early-stage deals, something Wall Street firms have long kept for themselves.

The platform, revealed this week, allows individuals to buy new crypto tokens before they’re listed on the Coinbase exchange.

According to Coinbase, this is the company’s latest attempt to grab more control of the crypto fundraising pipeline and pull retail buyers back into the game for the first time since 2018.

Sales on the new platform will happen monthly, with one token launch per cycle. Users get a one-week window to send in purchase requests. An algorithm then decides how to spread out the tokens. This isn’t some lottery or insider deal.

The company said the goal is to keep it fair and prevent the same people from snapping up everything every time. Buyers must be fully registered with Coinbase, follow all compliance rules, and fund their purchases in USD Coin, a stablecoin tied to the U.S. dollar and issued by Circle Internet Group.

Investors must follow rules while issuers face vetting process

Only users who are in good standing with Coinbase will be allowed to take part. If you’re not verified, you don’t get in. And if you plan to flip your tokens immediately for a quick gain, don’t expect to get as much allocation in the future.

That’s straight from Scott Shapiro, head of trading at Coinbase, who explained that users who dump tokens right after a sale will get a lower allocation in the next round. The same goes for project founders.

They and their affiliates won’t be able to sell any tokens, privately or publicly, for six months after launch. That applies across the board.

The process for launching tokens on the platform is just as strict. The company said crypto projects will be screened based on how much interest they have from users, the track record of their teams, how the tokens will work economically, and how they’ll be released over time. No more “just white paper” launches like in 2017.

The first token to go live on the platform will come from Monad, a crypto startup that plans to launch its token next week.

Once a token goes through this new system, Coinbase said it intends to list it on the exchange, giving it exposure to a broader user base. The platform will be open to most global users at launch, and Coinbase said it plans to roll it out to more regions later.

Platform revives public crypto sales for U.S. retail investors

This is the first time since the ICO crash of 2018 that retail users in the U.S. are being invited back into public token offerings.

Back then, billions of dollars were thrown at crypto startups that had nothing but ideas. No products. No accountability. That whole scene collapsed when prices tanked and regulators came for everyone. Coinbase is trying to bring that same excitement back, but with guardrails.

Scott said that things are different now. “In 2017, the market was so young that no one really had a deep crypto resume before launching a token,” he said. “Now, projects and their teams have more to show than just a white paper.”

The platform is part of a bigger plan for Coinbase. The company has been looking to move away from relying too much on crypto trading fees, which have dropped across the industry.

By charging projects to launch their tokens and growing the number of coins available to trade, Coinbase is aiming to bring in new revenue streams while luring users who’ve been going to offshore platforms.

The launch also adds to the company’s push to become an “everything exchange”—not just a place to trade Bitcoin or Ethereum, but a one-stop platform for financial services built around crypto.

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