Aave

Stablecoin

Compound

DeFi

USDC

Coinbase is relaunching its Stablecoin Bootstrap Fund first introduced in 2019 to boost the liquidity of the stablecoin USDC in a range of popular and emerging decentralized finance protocols.Coinbase <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/en-au/blog/relaunching-the-coinbase-stablecoin-bootstrap-fund-to-boost-defi-liquidity" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">said</a> on Tuesday its first placements will provide USDC (<a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">USDC</a>) liquidity into Ethereum-based lenders Aave and Morpho, and Solana-based trading platforms Kamino and Jupiter.“As we scale the fund over time and distribute liquidity across more protocols and stablecoins, we’re particularly eager to collaborate with pre-launch teams or those seeking to drive stablecoin growth from day one,” it added.The deployments will be managed by Coinbase Asset Management and are designed to ensure users can “access reliable rates across mature and emerging protocols,” Coinbase said. <figure><img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-08/0198a0c7-00fa-754d-bf79-071d4b573dc6" title="" alt="Coinbase revives stablecoin bootstrap fund to boost USDC in DeFi"><figcaption>Source: <a href="https://x.com/coinbase/status/1955284689213661582" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Coinbase</a></figcaption></figure> Coinbase did not disclose the size of the fund. Cointelegraph contacted Coinbase for comment.Coinbase helped create USDC alongside its issuer, Circle Internet Group, but is still key to its ecosystem. Tether (<a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">USDT</a>) dominates stablecoin volume across the crypto ecosystem, with an over $100 billion lead on USDC’s market capitalization, and Coinbase’s bid to boost USDC’s <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/explained/crypto-exchange-liquidity-and-why-it-matters-explained" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">liquidity</a> in DeFi could attract more crypto traders and borrowers to the token.Total value locked in DeFi protocols currently sits at $165.4 billion, led by Aave and Ether (<a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">ETH</a>) liquid staking protocol Lido at $41 billion and $40.8 billion, DeFiLlama <a href="https://defillama.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">data</a> shows.<h2 id="blue-chip-defi-protocols-benefit-from-coinbase-s-first-fund">Blue chip DeFi protocols benefit from Coinbase’s first fund</h2>The revival of Coinbase Stablecoin Bootstrap Fund comes six years after it <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/coinbase-launches-usdc-based-initiative-to-support-defi-developers" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">was first introduced </a>in September 2019 to assist Ethereum-based DeFi protocols such as Uniswap, Compound and dYdX with USDC liquidity.The first of those funds deployed $1 million each to Compound and dYdX, which helped pave the way for USDC to grow into a popular stablecoin in DeFi after <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/coinbase-and-circle-launch-usdc-stablecoin-with-purported-full-backing-in-us-dollars" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">only launching a year earlier.</a>USDC now holds a market cap of $65.6 billion, trailing USDT at $164.6 billion, CoinGecko <a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/categories/stablecoins" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">data</a> shows.Like most stablecoins, USDC is supported on several blockchains, including Ethereum, Base, Solana, Polygon, Aptos, Avalanche and <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/usdc-stablecoin-sui-cctp-launch" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Sui</a>.<h2 id="coinbase-s-total-revenue-down-but-stablecoin-revenue-up">Coinbase’s total revenue down, but stablecoin revenue up</h2>It comes as Coinbase reported <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/coinbase-q2-2025-earnings-stablecoin-growth-policy-wins" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">$1.5 billion in revenue</a> for the second quarter,&nbsp; falling short of industry expectations of $1.56 billion to $1.59 billion.&nbsp;Related:<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/coinbase-perplexity-ai-partnership-crypto-market-data" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> Coinbase partners with Perplexity AI for real-time crypto prices</a>However, while revenue fell 26% from the previous quarter, its stablecoin-related revenue — primarily through USDC — rose 12% to $332 million.<h2 id="coinbase-aims-to-be-an-everything-app">Coinbase aims to be an “everything app”</h2>Coinbase is aiming to launch a “super app” after <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/coinbase-wallet-rebrands-base-everything-app" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">rebranding its Coinbase Wallet</a> to “Base app” on July 16, which the exchange said was to evolve it “from a wallet into an everything app that brings together social, apps, chat, payments, and trading.”The app will aim to “expand economic freedom, creativity, and innovation,” Head of product for Base app, John Granata, said, adding that it could be a starting point for a new kind of social network.The app is still in the beta stage.Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/nba-legend-scottie-pippen-strategy-michael-saylor-satoshi-nakamoto-cointelegraph-magazine/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Scottie Pippen says Michael Saylor warned him about Satoshi chatter</a>

Coinbase revives stablecoin bootstrap fund to boost USDC in DeFi

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