Coinbase Ventures, the investment arm of the U.S.-based crypto exchange, has published its list of priority areas for funding in 2026, highlighting emerging opportunities across RWA derivatives, AI-integrated infrastructure, privacy tech, and Web3 development tools.
According to the firm, the Web3 landscape has shifted noticeably over the past year. Liquidity has increased, attention has moved toward stablecoins and privacy solutions, and AI-driven on-chain data rails have entered the ecosystem. As a result, many development teams are rethinking their product direction and long-term strategy.
To guide builders, Coinbase Ventures identified the technologies and market segments it believes will define the next wave of innovation.
RWA-Based Perpetual Futures Take Center Stage
The most prominent theme is the rise of perpetual futures tied to real-world assets (RWA). These instruments offer synthetic exposure to off-chain markets—from stocks and commodities to macroeconomic indicators—without needing the physical asset as collateral.
Coinbase Ventures believes demand for such products will grow sharply, as traders seek tools to hedge or speculate on oil prices, inflation breakevens, credit spreads, and volatility metrics, all within a permissionless environment.
Next-Gen Trading Infrastructure
The firm also pointed to innovation happening across decentralized trading:
- Prop-AMM exchanges on Solana, where the protocol itself acts as a market maker, reducing vulnerability to predatory trading behavior.
- Prediction-market trading terminals, designed to give users a unified interface for navigating fragmented liquidity across forecasts and probabilities.
Liquidity fragmentation remains a challenge for prediction markets, the firm noted. In their view, aggregators capable of combining disparate pools into a single entry point could unlock the sector’s full potential.
Additional High-Conviction Sectors for 2026
Coinbase Ventures highlighted several more categories that it considers ripe for investment:
- Composable perpetual futures markets with yield-generating collateral that remains usable while leveraged positions stay open
- Unsecured on-chain lending based on verifiable reputation
- Privacy-enhancing coins and protocols
- Physical data aggregation layers for robotics
- Proof-of-personhood systems
- Democratized on-chain development, driven by widespread adoption of AI agents and developer-assist tools
The firm encouraged teams building in these areas to reach out and emphasized that despite volatility, the Web3 sector continues to evolve at a rapid pace.
