Coinbase is deepening its involvement in the Solana ecosystem through the acquisition of Vector, a Solana-native on-chain trading platform. The acquisition, announced on Friday, November 21, 2025, aims to broaden asset availability and improve the speed, liquidity, and accessibility of Solana-based assets for Coinbase users. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the acquisition is expected to close by the end of the year.
Vector's team and technology will be integrated into Coinbase's decentralized exchange (DEX) trading system. Coinbase is also sunsetting Vector's existing mobile and desktop applications as part of the transition.
Coinbase sees Solana as an important network and aims to become a "one-stop-shop for trading everything onchain". The company says Vector's infrastructure can spot new tokens the moment they are created onchain or launched via major launchpads. This capability is expected to plug directly into Coinbase's DEX trading stack and expand the set of Solana assets available to retail traders. Coinbase also touted Vector's Solana-native experience as a strategic complement to Coinbase's product roadmap.
The acquisition aligns with Coinbase's vision to build the "everything exchange," an on-chain-first trading hub that offers faster, cheaper, around-the-clock markets. Coinbase believes that integrating Vector will make it easy for anyone, anywhere, to trade any crypto asset.
The move also reflects a growing trend among crypto and fintech companies to build "all-in-one" apps. Earlier this year, Coinbase rebranded its wallet app as Base, which now combines Web3 wallet functions, trading, messaging, and mini apps. The company has also stated its intentions to support tokenized real-world assets, stocks, derivatives, and prediction markets.
The acquisition follows a string of on-chain expansion moves by Coinbase this year, including the purchase of fundraising platform Echo in October for $375 million. In July, Coinbase acquired token-creation platform Liquifi to help Coinbase Prime users track token ownership, unlock schedules, and ensure regulatory compliance.
Vector was originally created by the team behind Tensor, a Solana NFT marketplace. Vector started as a SocialFi app for trading Solana memecoins. Coinbase has stated that the Tensor Foundation, the community-governance body behind the Tensor protocol and marketplace, will remain independent from Coinbase. Tensor's NFT marketplace and native token will also stay unaffiliated.
The deal comes amid surging activity on Solana, where decentralized exchange (DEX) volume for 2025 has already topped $1 trillion, according to research from Messari. Solana is currently the second-largest blockchain by total value locked (TVL) in DeFi, with over $8.7 billion. Its native token, SOL, is currently trading at $125, making it the seventh-largest digital asset with a market capitalization of over $70 billion.
Market observers will be watching to see how quickly Coinbase can integrate Vector's on-chain-detection and routing capabilities into its consumer trading flow. They will also be observing whether the integration meaningfully expands access to smaller or newly minted Solana tokens without compromising safety or liquidity.
