Coinbase Is On A Buying Streak

Today in crypto, Coinbase has been on a buying streak. The US exchange acquired the onchain crowdfunding platform Echo for $375 million and paid $25 million to revive the UpOnly crypto podcast from 2022. Elsewhere, Ripple-tied Evernorth plans a $1 billion listing to build an XRP treasury.

Coinbase bets $375 million that onchain ICO crowdfunding is crypto’s next wave

Major US cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has acquired Echo, a platform that allows communities to raise capital targeting early-stage projects and startups.

Coinbase struck a $375 million deal to acquire Echo, a crowdfunding platform founded by crypto trader Jordan Fish, known in the community as Cobie, the company announced on Tuesday.

The acquisition came the day after Coinbase sent $25 million in USDC (USDC) to Cobie’s wallet to acquire and burn a non-fungible token (NFT) and revive his UpOnly podcast.

“I certainly didn’t think Echo would be sold to Coinbase, but here we are: Today Coinbase bought Echo for about $375 million,” Cobie wrote on X.

The acquisition came less than two years after Cobie launched Echo in beta in April 2024 with a mission to enable communities to invest together in private funding rounds.

In the eight months since launching, the platform has raised at least $51 million in funding, with 131 deals closed, including Ethena, a synthetic dollar protocol behind one of the fastest-growing yield-bearing stablecoins on the market, USDe (USDE).

According to Cobie, Ethena was the first project to fundraise using Echo, highlighting the platform’s sharp focus on early-stage investing.

In May, Echo introduced Sonar, a software product allowing founders to self-host public token sales on their own terms and preferred blockchains such as Hyperliquid, Base, Solana or Cardano.

Coinbase splashes $25 million to revive a podcast from the last bull run

Crypto exchange Coinbase has spent $25 million to acquire and burn a non-fungible token designed to revive the once-popular crypto podcast called UpOnly.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong confirmed that the “rumors are true” on Tuesday, adding that the firm bought the NFT to bring back the UpOnly podcast for another season. 

The original podcast was popular during the 2021 bull market and featured interviews with prominent crypto figures. It was notably sponsored by FTX before the exchange collapsed.

The NFT now ranks as the fifth most expensive NFTs sold in crypto’s history.

Ripple-linked Evernorth to go public in $1 billion SPAC to build massive XRP treasury

Evernorth Holdings, a digital asset company with ties to Ripple Labs, announced plans to go public through a merger with Armada Acquisition Corp. II, a Nasdaq-listed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), in a move aimed at tapping growing institutional demand for publicly traded digital asset treasury firms.

The transaction is expected to generate more than $1 billion in gross proceeds, including a $200 million investment from Japan’s SBI Holdings, a company with historical ties to SoftBank. Additional backing is expected from Ripple, Pantera Capital, Kraken and GSR, the company said. 

Evernorth said the funds will be used to build one of the world’s largest XRP (XRP) treasuries through open-market purchases of the digital asset.

Upon completion of the merger, the combined company is expected to trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol XRPN.

Evernorth CEO Asheesh Birla said the new investment vehicle is designed to “accelerate XRP adoption” amid growing interest in decentralized finance (DeFi), offering investors a public-market avenue to gain exposure to XRP and related digital-asset strategies.