Coinbase has once again shifted its messaging. In July 2025, Coinbase proudly launched the Base App, a one-stop platform the developers referred to as the “everything app.” It was meant to redefine how users interacted online, becoming the single feed where people could post updates, message friends, move money, and launch mini-apps for gaming, sports betting or trading.
Following the company’s Q4 results published last week, Coinbase is now on the way to becoming the “everything exchange,” merging traditional finance with on-chain crypto, allowing 24/7 trading of stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), prediction markets, and cryptocurrencies from a single interface.
The platform’s decision to pivot its positioning, and most importantly, scrap its creator rewards program, which Coinbase introduced as a way to incentivize social engagement, was met with quite some criticism from online communities. In addition, last week’s earnings season underscored just how much pressure the exchange is under at this moment, marking a net loss of roughly $667 million.
Coinbase’s Q4 loss & the rise of the “Everything Exchange”
For Coinbase, the fourth quarter of 2025 marked a sharp reversal in momentum. The company reported its first quarterly loss since returning to profitability in 2023, posting a net loss of around $667 million.
During the company’s earnings call, CFO Alesia Haas attributed the loss largely to non-cash items, including a $127 million unrealized loss on Coinbase’s crypto investment portfolio and a $395 million loss on strategic investments, among them its stake in Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin. While subscription and services revenue offered some cushion, it was not enough to soften trading volumes in what has been a broader crypto market downturn.
Against that backdrop, the pivot toward the “everything exchange” reads like a structural recalibration. By emphasizing multi-asset trading, including 24/7 access to cryptocurrencies, stocks and ETFs, Coinbase appears to be leaning further into financial infrastructure. That includes prediction markets, which Coinbase launched in all 50 states at the end of January.
Diversification includes prediction markets
“We’ve successfully diversified the business where stablecoins, subscription and services revenue, and now trading of other asset classes like stocks, prediction markets, and commodities means our revenue is less correlated to crypto price fluctuations,” said Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong.
While the Coinbase predictions product is still new, Armstrong says early indications are positive.
“Stocks and prediction markets are natural extensions of our core business, providing a clear path to increasing product stickiness
and revenue generation, and it’s working. Early feedback from our customers is very positive, and we see a number of users crossing over to trade commodities and equities alongside their crypto. We hit all-time highs in derivatives volume and revenue in Q4, and a few weeks ago, we rolled out prediction markets to 100% of our customers.”
The strategic shift to an all-inclusive trading platform also positions the company more squarely alongside retail brokerage platforms such as Robinhood, which also saw a crypto revenue fall of 38% year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2025.
However, while Robinhood’s crypto business represents one segment within a diversified brokerage model, Coinbase’s core identity and revenue base remain far more tightly bound to digital asset trading. In a bear market, that difference matters.
Community in backlash
Across X, users criticized Base’s leadership and product direction, arguing that the team prioritized hype over coherent on-chain experimentation. Some users questioned the logic of sunsetting the social layer entirely.
the problem of base is that it's leadership doesn't focus on the right things.. base onboarded like >50 grifters from sol to "promote" base..
— space Ξ (@spacexbt) February 9, 2026
and when everyone said that creator coins doesnt make sense, the team still kept pushing it for months, like why..?
base is only "hot"…
“Farcaster does social trading so well. If baseapp doesn’t encompass the social side, where do miniapps fit in, and how can it be the “Everything app,” user @basedjunkie said on Twitter.
The criticism reflects a broader tension within Web3, whether platforms should prioritize experimentation and creator monetization or focus on building sustainable financial rails.
A former participant in Base’s creator rewards program told DeFi Rate the shift felt deflating, even if understandable from a business perspective.
“I was disappointed when I relaunched the app and found it was no longer ‘social/creator-first’ and more of a replacement app for Coinbase Wallet,” X user @TalonDragon000 said. “Business-wise, I get it. Their direction will keep the lights on at the office. Innovation and creator-wise, it feels like they put it on hold for now. Maybe they will come back with a new creator campaign when they regain some of their lost funds from the recent market dip.”
Marketing vs monetization
The backlash also gained traction when users compared Base’s creator payouts to Coinbase’s broader marketing spend.
During this year’s Super Bowl, Coinbase allegedly spent $14 million for a karaoke-style commercial that reportedly generated around 20 million impressions and crashed the Coinbase site.
Armstrong called the Super Bowl an “overwhelming event” where being noticed is practically impossible, let alone getting people interested in crypto.
“Why did you buy a Super Bowl ad for karaoke?”
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) February 12, 2026
This is why. It broke through and got people's attention. The superbowl is such an overwhelming event, the first step is even being noticed. Only then have you bought the right to get them interested in the next step: crypto.
We'll… https://t.co/BQ8kVXGMRC
Armstrong’s response reveals a fundamental strategic divide. For leadership, visibility, and user acquisition during a market downturn may represent the highest leverage use of capital, which could also tie into the company’s broader push to become the “everything exchange.”
Coinbase is a publicly traded company navigating a bear market. In a slower trading environment, capturing attention at scale, even at significant cost, can be framed as long-term customer acquisition.
