Coinbase Reveals ‘Project Diamond’ Initiative, Targets Institutions Issuing Native Digital Assets

Coinbase, the largest U.S.-based crypto exchange, has revealed Project Diamond, an initiative that seeks to provide the tools for institutions to issue native digital assets. The project, which integrates several technologies, including Coinbase’s layer 2 product Base, the USDC stablecoin, Coinbase Prime custody services, and its Web3 wallet, has received approval from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM).

Coinbase Announces Native Blockchain Assets Issuance Tool ‘Project Diamond’

Coinbase has taken the first steps into bringing native digital assets to the institutional arena. The exchange recently revealed its Project Diamond initiative, which seeks to give institutions the tools to issue native digital assets using blockchain technology, targeting commercial markets.

The initiative includes an all-Coinbase-engineered tech stack: Base, the Ethereum layer 2 rollup, the USDC stablecoin, Coinbase Prime-based custody services, and the Coinbase Web3 wallet. The platform has already issued its first digital asset in feature demos for the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), which gave in-principle approval to the platform for developing financial technology services.

The exchange discussed the improvements this transaction brings to institutions, stating that it “marks a powerful upgrade to operational efficiency; a simplification of an important financial process that further unlocks institutional participation in the cryptoeconomy.”

Coinbase argues that only 0.25% of global assets are represented on-chain, which wastes the potential efficiency advantages that leveraging this tech would bring. Referring to the matter, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong declared:

We’re starting to tokenize real-world assets in a regulated way onchain.

This statement hints at another possibility, the tokenization of already existing assets like stocks, which would also help companies tackle targets outside of the reach of traditional markets.

The tokenization of real-world assets (RWA) is a business estimated to exceed the $10 trillion mark by 2030, attracting the interest of financial giants like HSBC and Itau, among others.

What do you think about Project Diamond and establishing native institutional digital assets markets? Tell us in the comments section below.