Coinbase Debuts ‘Embedded’ Crypto Wallet for Developers—With Stablecoin Focus

Crypto exchange Coinbase has debuted a feature for developers so they can easily build self-custodial wallets into their apps. 

Dubbed the Embedded Wallets software, Coinbase said the product, now in beta, would be useful for "the next generation of games, payments, DeFi, and social apps."

The product will allow users to access a crypto wallet with just an email address or SMS, Coinbase said on X. The exchange said that Embedded Wallets would be particularly useful for building stablecoin-related products. 

"The world is adopting stablecoin-native rails which are global, programmable, and lower cost than conventional systems," Coinbase said in a post on X. 

"There's never been a better time to launch," Coinbase added in a post on its website. "With GENIUS and CLARITY laying the regulatory foundation, developers are moving fast on stablecoin-native rails—unlocking global reach, lower costs, and programmable logic that go beyond conventional payment systems."

The new feature comes as Coinbase looks to widen its products and services. Users will not need browser extensions or seed phrases but will have control of their user interfaces. 

Stablecoins are non-volatile digital tokens typically pegged to the value of the U.S. dollar—unlike Bitcoin or Ethereum. 

Such cryptocurrencies were previously used by crypto traders to enter and exit transactions and keep their gains—or make purchases—on the blockchain without having to use traditional banks. 

But now major companies, including Meta and Amazon, banks, and even U.S. states are all interested in issuing the tokens, which aim to accelerate payments leveraging blockchain technology. 

This month, U.S. President Donald Trump signed the GENIUS Act into law, establishing a framework for issuing and trading stablecoins in the U.S.

Embedded Wallets will also be useful for developers building other apps—such as crypto exchanges or games, the exchange said. 

A self-custody—or non-custodial—wallet is when the entity holding the crypto has control of the private keys so they are in complete control of the funds. With a custodial wallet, a company has control of the keys. 

San Francisco, California-based Coinbase mainly lets users buy, sell, and bet on the future price of digital coins and tokens but has other products allowing people to build crypto products. Most notably, Base, an Ethereum scaling network. 

Publicly-traded Coinbase is the biggest exchange in the U.S. and as well as selling crypto, has a deal with the U.S. government to take custody of confiscated digital assets.