Coinbase Developer Platform (CDP) is a suite of tools, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), and infrastructure services provided by Coinbase to enable developers to build cryptocurrency-based applications. The platform offers solutions for wallet creation, payments, trading, data access, and on-chain development, leveraging Coinbase's existing infrastructure, security, and compliance frameworks. ^{[1] [2]}

Overview

The Coinbase Developer Platform is positioned as a foundational infrastructure layer for the on-chain economy, designed to simplify the complexities of blockchain development. The platform's stated mission is to "bring the world onchain" by providing developers with an easy-to-use and trusted experience, aiming to abstract away challenges related to security, scalability, and user experience. ^{[3] [4]} It serves a wide range of users, from individual builders to large enterprises, by offering distinct API sets tailored to consumer, business, and institutional use cases. ^[12]

The platform's value proposition is built on leveraging the broader Coinbase ecosystem, including its exchange liquidity, custody solutions, and brand recognition. It emphasizes providing secure and audited infrastructure, citing that its services are used by over 250 banks, fintechs, and crypto companies. ^[1] CDP actively engages with the developer community through various initiatives. One key program is the CDP Ambassador Program, an invite-only network for proven builders who provide product feedback, create educational content, and represent the platform at events. ^[13] The platform also offers builder grants for projects using its tools and participates in hackathons. ^[5]

Technology and Architecture

The Coinbase Developer Platform is a modular ecosystem composed of various distinct products, APIs, and SDKs that developers can integrate individually. The components are organized by function to support different aspects of on-chain application development. ^[2]

Wallet Infrastructure

CDP provides a comprehensive suite of Wallet-as-a-Service (WaaS) solutions for creating and managing user wallets.

• Server Wallets: These are developer-controlled, server-side wallets (also known as CDP Wallets) designed for automated or backend systems like bots and agents. Their security architecture is built on Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs), specifically AWS Nitro Enclaves, which are secure, isolated compute environments. Private keys are generated, encrypted, and used for signing entirely within the enclave, ensuring the unencrypted key is never exposed—not even to Coinbase. ^[14] Developers manage wallets and sign transactions entirely through scoped API calls, eliminating the need to handle key material or manage signing infrastructure. ^[6]
• Embedded Wallets: This software developer kit (SDK) allows developers to integrate self-custodial wallets directly into their applications. It is designed to simplify user onboarding by enabling wallet creation through familiar Web2-style logins like email, SMS, or OAuth, abstracting away the complexity of managing seed phrases. ^[15] This allows users to begin transacting immediately while developers retain control over the front-end experience. ^[2]
• Base Accounts (Smart Wallets): These are programmable smart contract wallets built on the Base network, an Ethereum Layer 2 incubated by Coinbase. They enable advanced features associated with account abstraction (ERC-4337). ^[1]

AgentKit

AgentKit is an open-source framework designed to bridge AI and blockchain technology, allowing developers to build AI agents that can autonomously interact with on-chain environments. ^[16] Built on top of the CDP SDK, it provides agents with native access to blockchain functions like deploying tokens, executing transfers, and performing swaps. The framework is model-agnostic, supporting various LLM providers such as OpenAI, Anthropic's Claude, and Llama, and is compatible with the LangChain ecosystem. AgentKit is often used in conjunction with CDP's Server Wallets to provide each agent with a secure, programmable wallet and the x402 protocol to facilitate machine-to-machine payments. ^[16]

Payments and Onboarding

• Onramp & Offramp: A fiat-to-crypto solution, often integrated as a widget, that allows users to purchase cryptocurrency with fiat currency (onramp) or sell crypto for fiat (offramp) directly within a third-party application. ^[2]
• Coinbase Commerce: A service that enables merchants to accept on-chain cryptocurrency payments through tools like hosted checkout pages and payment buttons. ^[11]
• Paymaster: An API that allows developers to sponsor transaction fees (gas) for their users. ^[5]
• x402 Protocol: An open payment protocol for on-chain micropayments inspired by the HTTP 402 'Payment Required' status code. It is designed to facilitate machine-to-machine transactions, enabling AI agents to autonomously purchase services like API calls, data, or compute. The protocol's workflow involves a server responding to a resource request with a 402 error that includes an on-chain invoice. The client pays the invoice and retries the request with proof of payment, such as the transaction hash, to gain access. This enables programmatic, pay-per-use access without requiring user accounts or sessions. The protocol is designed as an open standard and is not tied to a specific chain, though initial implementations focus on EVM networks. ^{[18] [19]}

Trading and Data APIs

• Advanced Trade API: An API for programmatic trading on Coinbase's spot markets, supporting market, limit, and stop-limit orders. It provides access to over 550 markets and is designed for high order entry speeds. It includes a REST API for executing trades and a WebSocket server for real-time market data. ^[7]
• Swap API: An API that enables developers to integrate token swaps into their applications with minimal code. It is designed for backend-driven, automated workflows, allowing for programmatic execution without requiring user-facing wallet popups. The API sources liquidity from leading aggregators to provide competitive pricing and handles approvals, signing, and routing, allowing developers to focus on core application features. ^[17]
• Exchange APIs: A suite of APIs for institutional and high-frequency traders, including the Exchange API (for spot markets), International Exchange API (for perpetual futures), Prime API (for institutional prime brokerage), and Derivatives API. ^[2]
• Data API: Provides developers with access to indexed and organized on-chain data, reducing the need to query raw blockchain information directly. ^[3]

Use Cases and Partnerships

• Autonomous Agents and AI: The x402 protocol and Server Wallets are used by platforms like Questflow and Firecrawl to build an on-chain economy for autonomous AI agents. A collaboration with Google's Agentic Payments Protocol (AP2) utilizes x402 to enable AI agents to pay each other using stablecoins. ^[5]
• DeFi and Trading: Coinbase's own decentralized exchange (DEX) trading feature uses CDP Embedded Wallets to provide a seamless user experience. The Advanced Trade API is integrated with third-party trade automation platforms such as 3Commas, Bitsgap, and Cryptohopper. ^{[5] [7]}
• User Onboarding: Wallet infrastructure company Turnkey integrated Coinbase Onramp to allow its users to fund their wallets directly with fiat currency. ^[5]
• E-commerce and Cloud Services: Google Cloud integrated Coinbase Commerce to allow customers to pay for cloud services with cryptocurrency. ^[11]

Blocklords Dynasty

For Blocklords Dynasty, CDP’s Paymaster enables gasless onboarding—helping the game support over 1.2 million wallets, 50M+ in-game transactions, and 250,000+ daily users without requiring users to manage wallets manually. ^[8]

FereAI

In FereAI, CDP’s Server Wallets replaced fragmented wallet management. With a chain-agnostic, API-driven wallet layer and secure key storage, FereAI saw a 5x boost in agent throughput, zero key management incidents, and 90% faster onboarding for new strategies. ^[9]

Coinbase DEX

CDP’s Embedded Wallets let users trade onchain directly within the Coinbase interface. Wallets are automatically provisioned (no seed phrases), enabling a frictionless self-custodial experience that blends centralized UI with decentralized asset control. ^[10]

CDP Founders Fuel

CDP Founders Fuel is a selective support initiative by Coinbase Developer Platform aimed at assisting technical founders, small teams, or solo developers in transitioning from working prototypes to fully launched products. The program offers selected teams up to $15,000 in CDP and Paymaster credits, $5,000 in AWS Activate credits, 1:1 access with CDP product leads for technical feedback, go-to-market (GTM) support, early access to new platform features, and inclusion in the CDP Builder Showcase for social amplification. To be eligible, applicants must have a functioning app, plan to launch publicly within three months, and are integrating one or more CDP tools. ^[11]