Coinbase, a prominent cryptocurrency exchange in the US, has taken a significant step by acquiring Echo, a crowdfunding platform designed for communities to efficiently raise funds aimed at early-stage projects. This acquisition, valued at $375 million, was officially announced by Coinbase on Tuesday.

Echo Acquisition

The deal includes founder Jordan Fish, also known as Cobie, who expressed surprise at this acquisition, stating, “I certainly didn’t think Echo would be sold to Coinbase, but here we are: Today Coinbase bought Echo for about $375 million.” The platform had been in operation for less than two years when it was acquired.

In less than a year of its beta launch, Echo had already secured over $51 million in funding through 131 deals.

Ethena: A Key Success for Echo

Echo’s first fundraising success was with Ethena, a synthetic dollar protocol that has gained traction in the stablecoin market.

Ethena Project

Standalone Operations for Echo

Despite the acquisition, Echo will maintain its brand and operations independently for the time being. Future developments may integrate some of Echo’s features into Coinbase, offering new opportunities for community investors.

“Integrating Echo’s tools will help us enable more direct community participation, joining projects with capital, entirely on-chain,” Coinbase noted, indicating ambitions to include tokens traditionally outside the crypto sphere.

Growing Recognition of ICOs

The move by Coinbase echoes an evolving interest in community fundraising, similar to the initial coin offerings (ICOs) popular in 2017. A recent report highlighted a growing trend towards public sales re-emerging, commenting that public launchpads are likely to endure due to structural demand.

“We want to make ICOs great again,” said Zak Folkman in reference to renewed public interests in ICOs.

As the market continues to evolve, the impacts of this acquisition and the return to community-centric fundraising models will be closely monitored.