The major American cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has acquired Echo, a platform that allows communities to raise funds for early projects and startups.
Coinbase purchased Echo for $375 million, a crowdfunding platform founded by cryptocurrency trader Jordan Fish, known in the community as Cobie. The company announced this news on Tuesday.
The acquisition took place the day after Coinbase sent $25 million USDC to Cobie's wallet to acquire and destroy a non-fungible token (NFT) and relaunch its UpOnly podcast.
"I certainly didn't expect Echo to be sold to Coinbase, but it is what it is: today Coinbase acquired Echo for about $375 million," Cobie wrote on X.
This acquisition comes less than two years after Cobie launched the Echo beta in April 2024, with the mission of enabling the community to participate in private fundraising rounds.
In the eight months since its launch, the platform has raised at least $51 million, completing 131 transactions, including Ethena, a synthetic dollar protocol that supports one of the fastest-growing yield-bearing stablecoins on the market, USDe.
According to Cobie, Ethena was the first project to raise funds using Echo, highlighting the platform's strong focus on early investments.
In May, Echo launched Sonar, a software product that allows founders to self-host public token sales on their own terms and preferred blockchains (such as Hyperliquid, Base, Solana, or Cardano).
Cobie stated in a post on X on Tuesday that after the Coinbase acquisition, Echo will "temporarily" continue to operate as "an independent platform under the current brand," adding that the Sonar product will be integrated into Coinbase.
He added that this integration will "possibly" provide founders with new ways to reach investors, and investors will also gain new investment opportunities on Coinbase.
Coinbase stated, "Integrating Echo's tools will help us achieve more direct community engagement, connecting projects with capital, all on-chain." It further added:
The acquisition of Echo by Coinbase marks the growing trend of community financing, reminiscent of the booming initial coin offerings (ICOs) in 2017.
According to a report by Tiger Research on Thursday, public sales are increasingly re-emerging in new forms, with launch platforms like Legion, Buidlpad, Sonar, and Kaito leading this trend.
Tiger Research noted, "The ICO craze peaked in 2017 but lost credibility due to fraud and lack of transparency, quickly shrinking." It added that the market then shifted to private sales.
The report stated, "However, public sales have recently re-emerged in new forms," referring to public launch platforms like Sonar.
The report concluded, "The short-term hype around public launch platforms may cool down. However, due to structural demand, public launch platforms are expected to persist. They are tools for projects to gain early users and liquidity."
While it remains to be seen how the revival trend of public token sales will develop, some notable figures associated with the Trump administration called for an ICO revival earlier this year.
Zak Folkman, co-founder of the Trump family's cryptocurrency venture World Liberty Financial, stated in February, "We want to make ICOs great again."
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Original article: “Coinbase Acquires Crowdfunding Platform Echo for $375 Million, Betting on On-Chain ICO Crowdfunding as the Next Wave”
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