October 9, 2025
Coinbase is DEXing. And the battles of the ways to buy on-chain things off-chain are heating up (not really, they were already warm).
Welcome to the Meridian Update, your daily on-chain report. We’re still thinking about a tokenized Grayscale Solana Trust (GSOL) that would allow you to buy something on-chain that mimics something off-chain that mimics something on-chain. That was not a typo. It was a joke? Let’s dive in.
A CEX does DEX
Centralized exchange (CEX). Decentralized exchange (DEX). Good terms to know in the on-chain world. Coinbase is a company that exists off-chain, as in it is a publicly traded company listed on NASDAQ, to build things for and related to the on-chain world. Many people have heard of it as an app for buying Bitcoin.
Coinbase also runs an exchange. A centralized one. That is, Coinbase is a singular place you can go to buy or sell ownership stakes in on-chain tokens. Of course you can’t really go there. But, you know, you can connect to its trading system and sell to someone who is buying, or vice versa.
The way us regular folks connect to its trading system is through the Coinbase app. You press buy on the app, the data beams to the Coinbase exchange, your ownership stake beams back to your app. Kind of. Actually, the Coinbase app you’re thinking of is really just exposing an ownership stake that is actually held by Coinbase, but for you. Then Coinbase shows on your app that you own it. So they are actually beaming back to your app that they’re now holding it but what they’re holding is yours. This is a custodial wallet. We’ll review that term in the future.
Anyway, the centralized exchange company Coinbase is diving into decentralized exchange things:
“Explore millions of assets, moments after they launch, right from the Coinbase app.
DEX trading is live for all U.S. users (ex. NY).”
Crypto Twitter had fun with “(ex. NY)” as you can imagine. That’s a topic for another day. We were most focused on the very last FAQ on Coinbase’s DEX product page, “Are DEX assets safe?” This particular part of the response caught our eye:
“However, it's important to remember that not all risks will necessarily be detected for each asset, and Coinbase does not review DEX assets. You should always do your own research before making a trade.”
You should always do your own research before making a trade.
It takes two to tango
We have talked about the Grayscale Solana Trust (GSOL). Specifically, we talked about its splashy news regarding staking.
Not to be outdone, here is an amended S-1 from Bitwise about its “Solana Staking ETF,” which you can read in its entirety.
Just kidding of course. It set the fee to 0.2%. That fee was previously left blank. Interesting that it came two days after the Grayscale Solana Trust staking news. Very interesting.
In any case, we are now thinking about a tokenized Bitwise Solana Staking ETF that would allow you to buy something on-chain that mimics something off-chain that mimics something on-chain…
That’s a wrap
Coinbase is DEXing. And the battles of the ways to buy on-chain things off-chain are heating up (not really, they were already warm).
Think we missed something today? Email email@meridianupdate.com.