Coinbase has introduced decentralized trading to almost all of its US customers, expanding access to one of its most ambitious products yet.
The company confirmed on October 8, it was announced that the decentralized exchange service (DEX) is now live on the main Coinbase app for users across the country, except for users in New York, where state regulations still limit offerings.
The new interface allows traders to exchange tokens at the time they are launched, giving them early exposure to emerging assets long before centralized listings appear. The feature is fully powered by Base, Coinbase’s Ethereum Layer-2 network, and will be gradually expanded to support additional chains and regions.
For now, the app allows users to trade Base-issued assets from projects such as Virtuals AI Agents, Reserve Protocol DTFs, Soso Value Indices, Auki Labs and Super Champs. Coinbase integrated 1inch and 0x liquidity routes, allowing custodial token swaps without users handing over control of their wallets.
Funding can come directly from an existing Coinbase balance or USDC, while the company absorbs gas fees in exchange for a “small, transparent” trading fee.
The launch follows a limited trial period in August with select testers and marks full access to on-chain trading for the exchange’s retail base.
CEXs introduce DEXs
The DEX launch also comes amid a wave of similar efforts from competitors.
Bybit recently unveiled Byreal, a Solana-based platform built to combine centralized exchange efficiency with DeFi transparency.
BitMart and MEXC have followed suit with their own on-chain platforms, each aiming to keep users confined to their trading environment while liquidity fragments across networks.
The moves by these companies are not surprising as industry data shows that crypto traders are increasingly turning to DEX platforms for their transactions.
Facts from CoinGecko showed that decentralized exchanges now handle around 28.5% of spot activity on centralized platforms. In the second quarter of 2025 alone, DEX volumes increased by more than 25%, while trading at centralized locations fell by almost 30%.
This difference brought the DEX-CEX volume ratio to 0.23, compared to 0.13 in the previous quarter.
Considering this, Youngsun Shin, Flipster’s head of product development, noted:
“CeDeFi convergence will be a reality sooner than we all think.”
In this market environment, crypto traders have a growing preference for platforms that offer transparency and self-management of their assets. By integrating a DEX directly into their app, CEXs aim to bridge that gap by offering control over DeFi with the reliability and speed users expect from their exchange.
