Coinbase Bets on ICO Comeback With $375 Million Echo Deal

Coinbase, a leading crypto exchange, shared that it has acquired Echo, a crowdfunding platform for $375 million.

Echo is a platform that helps communities come together to raise funds for early-stage startups and crypto projects. It was founded by well-known crypto trader Jordan Fish, also known as Cobie. A day before the deal, Coinbase sent $25 million in USDCt o Cobie’s wallet to buy and burn a digital collectible (NFT) and help restart his UpOnly podcast.

“I certainly didn’t think Echo would be sold to Coinbase, but here we are: Today Coinbase bought Echo for about $375 million,” Cobie said on X.

when i started building echo 2 years ago, i knew it had 95% chance of failing. to be honest, i couldnt really imagine any other outcome, but i thought at least it may be a noble failure worth attempting.

i certainly didn't think echo would be sold to coinbase, but, here we are:…
— Cobie (@cobie) October 21, 2025

From Startup Vision to Major Deal

Echo was launched in April 2024 and had since become a hub for community investing. In only eight months, it helped raise more than $51 million across 131 different deals. One of its first and biggest projects was Ethena, a crypto protocol that created the fast-growing stablecoin USDe. According to Cobie, Ethena was the first project ever to raise through Echo.

The first project to ever fundraise with Echo was Ethena. The unlock today means Echo makes revenue for the first time ever (we made $37k in total, I am rich now). Thanks to Ethena, to the group leads that shared the deal, and to the Echo users who bought it. Onwards!
— Cobie (@cobie) March 6, 2025

In May, Echo introduced Sonar, a software product that allows startup founders to hold public token sales on their own. These sales can be hosted on different blockchains like Base, Solana, Cardano, and Hyperliquid.

After the deal, Cobie said Echo will stay as a “standalone platform for now,” while Coinbase will integrate Sonar into its services. He added that this could bring new ways for founders and investors to connect directly on Coinbase.

“Integrating Echo’s tools will help us enable more direct community participation, joining projects with capital, entirely onchain.” Coinbase said in its release. The company added that while it will begin with token sales via Sonar, it plans to expand support to tokenized securities and real-world assets over time using Echo’s infrastructure.

Analysts see this as part of a resurgence of ICO-style fundraising. According to a Tiger Research report, public token sales are “coming back in new forms,” led by launchpads like Sonar, Legion, and Kaito. The trend echoes the 2017 ICO boom, but with stronger tools and transparency.