Coinbase stated on Tuesday that it has selected Centrifuge as its preferred tokenization infrastructure and made a strategic investment in the company.
Under the agreement, Centrifuge will become the default issuance layer for tokenized assets within the Coinbase ecosystem, including products on the Base platform. The two companies stated that the first institutional assets are expected to launch on the Base platform in the coming weeks.
Coinbase's initiative into the tokenized capital markets encompasses ETFs, credit, and structured products. Its partnership with Centrifuge gives Coinbase an infrastructure partner for external asset managers issuing products on-chain, although this partnership does not appear to be exclusive.
Coinbase Asset Management last week said it will launch its CUSHY stablecoin credit fund via Superstate’s FundOS platform, and in March partnered with Apex Group to tokenize a share class of its Bitcoin yield fund. Coinbase Ventures had previously been an investor in Centrifuge, participating in its 2022 strategic funding round.
Centrifuge provides on-chain strategy support for Apollo, Janus Henderson, and S&P Dow Jones Indices. Its total value locked reportedly surpassed $1 billion in mid-2025 and has now reached $1.66 billion.DeFiLlama data
At the time of this transaction, the total value of real-world assets tokenized on-chain has grown to approximately $27 billion, with tokenized government bonds and other fixed-income products accounting for about $16 billion.
The RWA space is currently led by Securitize and Ondo Finance, along with leading stablecoin issuers Tether and Circle, which are participating through their tokenized gold products and money market funds.
Bhaji Illuminati, CEO of Centrifuge, said: "What matters now is not just putting assets on-chain, but putting the right assets on-chain in the right way."
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced earlier Tuesday that the exchange will lay off 14% of its workforce, saying AI tools have made them redundant.