Coinbase launches KYC service on Base

Coinbase said bringing identity verification on-chain is a logical next step for Web3 to increase security and transparency

article-image

rafapress/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

Coinbase launched its Verifications platform Thursday, bringing know-your-customer policies on-chain. 

The exchange said launching identity verification on the chain protocol level increases security and transparency, providing a solution to common challenges associated with typical KYC methods. 

“Built on the [Ethereum Attestation Service’s] open standard, our verifications are public and composable,” Coinbase Cloud, the company’s blockchain infrastructure arm, wrote on X. 

Ethereum Attestation Service is a base layer where users can make declarations and add virtual signatures to information. 

“EAS enables anyone to make attestations on chain or off chain about anything,” the service’s website reads. “You simply register a schema (or use an existing one) about any topic and make attestations referencing that schema.”

Coinbase Verifications, built on Coinbase’s layer-2 Base, already has about 9,300 attestations from users, according to data from analytics firm Dune. The service is expected to help particularly with Sybil attacks, which is when hackers use a single node to create many fake identities. 

The service is the next step toward “using open source, public good infrastructure to enable the next billion users to come on-chain,” said Jesse Pollak, the creator of Base.

The move marks Coinbase’s entry into the decentralized identity game. Proof of Humanity, a verification protocol where users can submit social and video proof of their identities, emerged as a leader in the space when it launched on Ethereum-built application Kleros in 2021. 

Read more from our opinion section: Made by humans but governed by code?

“In our digital interactions, we cannot know who is sitting on the other side of the screen,” the Kleros team said at time of launch. This enables AI manipulation through impersonation and the spread of misinformation by bad actors.

Coinbase’s announcement comes as Coinbase shares begin to par gains after an explosive week. The stock was trading down a little less than 1% Friday after gaining as much as 6% during Thursday’s trading session

Still, Coinbase (COIN) remains up close to 7% over the past five trading days and is in the green more than 175% since the start of the year. 


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Unlocked by Template (10).png

Research

Innovations on Aptos’ technical design through Raptr, Shardines, and Zaptos approach near-optimal latency and throughput by unlocking 100% utilization of network resources, with the capacity to settle 260k transactions per second with latencies less than 800ms. The original Move language was revamped with the launch of Move 2, supporting more expressivity in smart contract logic and a scalable ability to interact with high volume datasets. The ecosystem has benefitted from strong asset inflows, now hosting over $1.3B in stablecoins, $450M in bridged BTC, and $530M in RWAs. Activity in the Aptos ecosystem has grown notably over the past year, with monthly application revenue reaching ~$835k and monthly DEX volumes growing to over $5B, both at new all time highs.

article-image

Interchain Labs will focus on sovereign L1s and institutional demand, abandoning plans for smart contracts on the Cosmos Hub

article-image

Also, only three tokens have outperformed bitcoin so far this year: XMR, HYPE and SKY

article-image

The fund group has submitted proposals in recent months for other funds that would hold litecoin, solana, XRP, HBAR, Sui and others

article-image

Momentum’s back — BTC leads, risk assets follow

article-image

Ondo Finance’s acquisition of blockchain development company Strangelove follows its buy of Oasis Pro

article-image

Cryptocurrency and stock traders alike had a lot to unpack Wednesday