Coinbase to Move Customer and Corporate USDC Account to Base Chain

Reported by Cointelegraph, Coinbase will start moving more of its customer and corporate USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin accounts to Base — its Ethereum layer-2 blockchain launched a little over seven months ago.

Coinbase vice president Max Branzburg posted to X on March 26 claiming the move would allow the crypto exchange to “manage and secure customer funds with lower fees and faster settlement times.”

The change only impacts Coinbase.com accounts — not Coinbase Wallet, as those users are responsible for their own private keys.

Currently, Coinbase.com user tokens are custodied by Coinbase in a wallet secured by multiparty computation.

Branzburg stressed that Coinbase always holds customer assets 1:1 and doesn’t lend funds out unless instructed.

Coinbase’s move on-chain will carve a path toward a future on-chain financial system, explained David Hoffman, a co-host on the Ethereum-focused show Bankless in a March 26 X post.

Bankless co-host, Ryan Sean Adams, believed the move would also set a precedent for cryptocurrency exchanges and banks to follow suit.