Coinbase acquires Spindl for better onchain advertising

Coinbase has announced the acquisition of Spindl, an onchain ads and attribution platform, as part of its broader strategy to drive adoption of onchain applications.

The deal will see Spindl integrated into Base, Coinbase’s layer 2 blockchain, with the goal of improving discovery and distribution for onchain developers.

Spindl, founded in 2022 by Antonio Garcia-Martinez, a former Facebook ads team member, specializes in rebuilding ad tech infrastructure for the onchain economy.

Garcia-Martinez played a key role in developing Facebook’s early ad targeting and exchange systems. His work with Spindl has focused on addressing challenges related to user acquisition and engagement for decentralized applications.

“As we’ve said before, there’s a natural flywheel here: We support developers who build onchain apps, those apps attract users onchain, and having more users incentivizes more developers to build onchain,” Coinbase stated in its announcement. “The faster we spin this flywheel, the easier it will be to bring more and more people onchain.”

Following the acquisition, Spindl will continue supporting its existing customers while aligning its operations with Base’s infrastructure. Coinbase emphasized its commitment to maintaining open standards for advertisers and publishers to foster a fair and scalable ecosystem.

With this move, Coinbase aims to strengthen its role in the onchain economy by enhancing visibility and user acquisition for decentralized applications.