Coinbase Global has announced the launch of a new token sales platform that will give retail investors the opportunity to purchase digital tokens before they are listed on the exchange — marking the first major public token sale opportunity for U.S. users since 2018.
The company’s shares rose about 4% in morning trading following the announcement, reflecting growing optimism over Coinbase’s efforts to tap into the multi-trillion-dollar digital asset market.
The new platform will host around one token sale per month, using an algorithm-based allocation system to determine how tokens are distributed among investors. Buyers will have a one-week window to submit their purchase requests.
“Token issuers coming to market today struggle to get their tokens into the hands of real users while building deep exchange liquidity. Coinbase is changing that,” the exchange said in a company blog post.
Investors will be able to pay for purchases in USD Coin (USDC), a dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Circle Internet Group, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the launch.
The first project to debut on the platform will be Monad, a blockchain startup that plans to hold its token sale next week. Coinbase said additional features such as limit orders and larger allocations for target user bases will be introduced in the coming months.
The move comes as interest from both retail and institutional investors in digital assets continues to grow, driving major exchanges like Coinbase to expand their product offerings and reclaim ground from global competitors.