10.09.2025 02:13
From internet sources, Coinbase has significantly bolstered its consumer-facing decentralized finance (DeFi) capabilities through its seventh acquisition of the year, bringing on board the founders of the crypto yield platform, Sensible. This strategic move addresses a key deficiency in Coinbase's offerings: the user experience expertise needed to integrate the complexities of DeFi into its primary platform in a way that is accessible to a broad audience.
In a move that underscores its ambitious expansion goals, Coinbase has officially announced the "acqui-hiring" of Jacob Frantz and Zak Salmon, the co-founders of the innovative yield-generating protocol, Sensible. Established in 2022 and notably supported by investments from Coinbase Ventures and Dragonfly, Sensible will cease its independent operations in October. This acquisition marks Coinbase's seventh significant integration of talent and technology in 2025, propelling forward its vision of establishing an all-encompassing "everything exchange."
As confirmed in a September 9th announcement, Coinbase has now brought Jacob Frantz and Zak Salmon, the visionary co-founders of Sensible, into its fold. This promising startup, launched just in 2022 and initially championed by Coinbase's own venture capital arm alongside Dragonfly, is slated to conclude its operational activities this coming October. Frantz and Salmon are poised to spearhead crucial product development teams, with their primary focus being the enhancement of Coinbase's on-chain consumer strategy. Their mandate will be to effectively demystify and simplify decentralized finance for Coinbase's expansive global user base. This latest acquisition is part of a vigorous and ongoing acquisition campaign throughout 2025, which has previously seen Coinbase integrate expertise from notable entities such as Deribit, Spindl, and Iron Fish.
The integration of Jacob Frantz and Zak Salmon into Coinbase's structure brings far more than just technical prowess; it injects a wealth of practical experience in crafting DeFi products tailored for the everyday user. Sensible distinguished itself by developing user-friendly applications for crypto yield generation, artfully merging staking rewards with sophisticated decentralized finance protocols through intuitive interfaces. Within Coinbase, Frantz and Salmon will be instrumental in guiding teams dedicated to the company's on-chain consumer strategy, a linchpin in their overarching ambition to evolve into an "everything exchange"—a singular platform where users can seamlessly execute a comprehensive range of financial activities, including trading, borrowing, staking, and spending all digital assets. In their official statement, Frantz and Salmon articulated their perspective on this transition not as an ending, but rather as a powerful acceleration of their initial mission, expressing a clear intent to...