Coinbase to Roll Out Private Transactions on Base later than Iron Fish Deal
Crypto platform and infrastructure provider Coinbase Global, Inc. announced plans to roll out private transaction capabilities on its layer-2 network Base, later than acquiring the engineering team behind privacy-focused blockchain Iron Fish.
In a , CEO Brian Armstrong stated:
“Base is building private transactions. We acquired the Iron Fish team back in Mar 2025 to begin working on this. More to share soon.”
Coinbase confirmed the March acquisition of Iron Fish’s development team—not the Iron Fish blockchain or its token—with the goal of integrating privacy-enhancing tools into Base’s infrastructure.
While Coinbase has not yet released full technical details, reports indicate the new functionality may leverage zero-knowledge cryptography and shielded-pool mechanisms to hide transaction amounts, senders and recipients, while preserving regulatory-compliance features such as selective disclosure through “view keys.”
The addition of privacy primitives to Base could mark a pivotal moment: privacy features are typically viewn in niche or specialized chains, but deploying them on a major layer-2 backed by a regulated platform could bring them into the mainstream. That said, they caution that regulatory and compliance challenges remain significant.
Coinbase has not provided a rollout timeline. Stakeholders and developers await further disclosures, expected in the coming weeks.
Coinbase Major Acquisitions and Strategic Investments
Coinbase is advancing its global strategy with a series of major deals aimed at strengthening its influence across on-chain fundraising, trading, and payment infrastructure.
The company recently , bringing Echo’s Sonar platform under its wing to enable compliant token launches and decentralized fundraising directly within the Coinbase ecosystem.
It also deepened its presence in Asia through a , reinforcing its commitment to one of the quickest-growing digital asset markets while supporting CoinDCX’s plans to expand regional liquidity and compliance operations.
In addition, Coinbase and Mastercard are reportedly in advanced talks to acquire BVNK, a UK-based fintech specializing in stablecoin infrastructure, .
The move could push Coinbase’s payment capabilities by integrating fiat-to-crypto settlements for institutional clients. Collectively, these initiatives shows Coinbase’s goal to build a comprehensive global crypto infrastructure—linking on-chain fundraising, platform access, and enterprise payment answers under a unified and compliant framework.
