Leading US cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has acquired Echo, a platform that enables communities to raise capital focused on early-stage projects and startups.
Coinbase has completed a $375 million deal to acquire Echo, a crowdfunding platform founded by crypto trader Jordan Fish, also known as Cobie, as the company announced on Tuesday.
This acquisition occurred the day after Coinbase transferred $25 million in USDC (USDC) to Cobie’s wallet to acquire and burn a non-fungible token (NFT) and reinstate his UpOnly podcast.
“I never anticipated that Echo would be sold to Coinbase, but here we are: Today Coinbase purchased Echo for approximately $375 million,” Cobie stated on X.
Ethena was the first project to raise with Echo
The acquisition took place less than two years after Cobie launched Echo in beta in April 2024 with the aim of enabling communities to invest together in private funding rounds.
In the eight months since its launch, the platform has raised over $51 million in funding, successfully closing 131 deals, including for Ethena, a synthetic dollar protocol that powers one of the fastest-growing yield-bearing stablecoins on the market, USDe (USDE).
According to Cobie, Ethena was the inaugural project to fundraise using Echo, emphasizing the platform’s strong commitment to early-stage investing.
In May, Echo launched Sonar, a software solution that allows founders to self-host public token sales on their preferred terms and blockchains like Hyperliquid, Base, Solana, or Cardano.
Echo will remain standalone…“for now”
Post-acquisition, Echo will remain a “standalone platform under its existing brand for now,” Cobie mentioned in an X post on Tuesday, adding that the Sonar product will be integrated into Coinbase.
This integration will “likely” provide new avenues for founders to connect with investors, while investors will gain new investment opportunities on Coinbase, he noted.
“Integrating Echo’s tools will aid us in facilitating more direct community involvement, connecting projects with capital, entirely onchain,” Coinbase stated, adding:
“While we will start with crypto token sales via Sonar, we intend to expand support to tokenized securities and real-world assets gradually, utilizing Echo’s infrastructure.”
Are ICOs back?
Coinbase’s acquisition of Echo signifies a growing trend towards community fundraising, reminiscent of initial coin offerings (ICOs), which experienced a surge in 2017.
An Oct. 16 report by Tiger Research revealed that public sales have been increasingly emerging in new forms, with launchpads like Legion, Buidlpad, Sonar, and Kaito pioneering this trend.
“The ICO boom peaked in 2017 but swiftly contracted as it lost credibility due to fraudulent activities and lack of transparency,” Tiger Research mentioned, noting that the market subsequently shifted to private sales.
“However, public sales are now resurging in new formats,” it stated, referring to public launchpads like Sonar.
“While the short-term excitement surrounding public launchpads may subside, they are expected to endure due to ongoing demand. They serve as a tool for projects to secure early users and liquidity,” the report concluded.
Related: Coinbase CEO aims to replace banks with a crypto super app
While the future of public token sales remains uncertain, some prominent figures linked to the Trump administration have advocated for an ICO resurgence earlier this year.
“We aim to make ICOs great again,” Zak Folkman, co-founder of the Trump family’s cryptocurrency initiative World Liberty Financial, declared in February.
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