Crypto exchange Coinbase has acquired Spindl, an onchain advertising and infrastructure platform, as part of a broader push to expand the reach for projects built on its Ethereum layer-2 network Base. The acquisition aims to tackle the 'onchain discovery problem' for onchain builders, according to a Jan. 31 statement from Coinbase.

Spindl's founder, Antonio García Martínez, was part of the team behind Facebook's original ads platform. He is now bringing his expertise to the blockchain world, aiming to replicate the success of Facebook ads onchain. Spindl has built its ad tech stack from the ground up in smart contracts, all onchain, and is helping builders go viral.

Coinbase's head of business development, Shan Aggarwal, echoed the sentiment, stating that the acquisition is to help builders go viral and find their power users. Spindl's onchain advertising protocol helps builders find their audience and users find more compelling things to do onchain, creating a win-win situation.

Eric Seufert, an investor at Heracles Capital and one of Spindl's early backers, first met García Martínez when he visited Austin to appear on Joe Rogan's podcast. After learning about García Martínez's vision for onchain attribution and measurement, Seufert decided to invest in Spindl. He is excited to see how the Spindl team moves advertising forward in partnership with Coinbase.

In other news, Coinbase is considering making tokenized shares of its stock available to US users of Base. While tokenized COIN is already available to non-US users through protocols like Backed, a tokenized real-world assets (RWA) platform, Coinbase is looking into this possibility for US users in the new year.