Coinbase Stands as a Colossal Presence, Offering Cryptocurrency Services

In the ever-evolving world of finance, stablecoins are making a significant impact, particularly in the wake of the passing of the GENIUS Act, which provides a federal framework for stablecoins. Eric Peters, the founder and chief investment officer of One River Digital Asset Management and now the CEO of Coinbase Asset Management, sees stablecoins as a "killer app" for the future.

Coinbase, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, is expected to play a pivotal role in this evolution. With its crypto-as-a-service (CaaS) platform, the company supplies infrastructure services to more than 240 businesses, including the German state pension fund BayernInvest, which invested in a digital yield fund managed by Olive, the overseas asset management arm of Noah, in August 2025. This investment marked the first stablecoin yield fund established by Olive in cooperation with Coinbase.

The infrastructure that Coinbase has been working on for four years allows for the digitally native issuance of TradFi investments, according to Peters, and is expected to be built on the ethereum blockchain. This could potentially revolutionise the way securities such as bonds and stocks are issued, with Peters suggesting that they can be issued in digitally native form onchain, without needing a parallel traditional security, with necessary regulatory disclosures incorporated in smart contracts.

Eric Peters is not alone in his positive views on blockchain technology. Traditional finance luminaries such as Ray Dalio, former CEO of hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, and hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones also hold positive views on the technology. Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, is another notable figure who recognises the potential of blockchain technology to disrupt the ETF industry. The entrance of BlackRock, led by Fink, into crypto is considered a "big deal" by Eric Peters.

One River Digital Asset Management, founded in January 2021, was acquired by Coinbase in March 2023. Coinbase Asset Management operates as an independent business and wholly owned subsidiary of Coinbase.

The market has evolved to allow really large trades to be executed without dramatically moving prices, according to Eric Peters. This stability is evident in a large trade executed by Peters using Coinbase's team and algorithms, which took five days to complete without significantly moving the market.

The depth and liquidity of the crypto market is considered pretty remarkable by Eric Peters. In July this year, Galaxy Digital completed the sale of more than 80,000 bitcoins, valued at over $9bn, for an investor, marking one of the largest notional bitcoin transactions in crypto history.

Stablecoins can be used as digital money to make payments and settle transactions onchain, without relying on traditional payment rails. This feature, combined with the growing influence of companies like Coinbase, suggests that stablecoins are poised to play a significant role in the future of finance.

The CEO of Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, has compared the company's use of crypto infrastructure to power businesses to Amazon expanding cloud infrastructure through AWS. As the crypto market continues to mature and gain traction in traditional finance, it's clear that Coinbase is at the forefront of this revolution.