Coinbase will begin charging a 0.1% fee for large-scale conversions of the stablecoin USDC to U.S. dollars, starting August 13. The new fee will apply to net USDC-to-USD conversions exceeding $5 million over a 30-day rolling period, according to a notice posted by the crypto exchange.
The decision comes on the heels of Coinbase’s disappointing second-quarter earnings report, which missed both revenue and profit expectations and caused the company’s shares to decline. This marked the second consecutive quarter of underperformance, even though revenue from stablecoin-related activities grew 12% year-over-year to $332 million.
Hmmm…why
I don’t love the precedent here. What if this dropped to $10k. Feels like bank fees again @coinbase.
$1 USD = $1USDC right? pic.twitter.com/l9easdJM2t
— RYAN SΞAN ADAMS – rsa.eth 🦄 (@RyanSAdams) August 6, 2025
The fee will only affect high-volume transactions, with a tiered structure in place: no fee will be applied for net conversions up to $40 million in a 30-day period. Beyond that, fees start at 0.05% for conversions between $40 million and $100 million, scaling up to 0.2% for transactions over $200 million.
The move has sparked debate across the crypto community. Critics argue that the change mirrors traditional bank fees and could set an unwelcome precedent. “What if this dropped to $10k? Feels like bank fees again,” said Ryan Sean Adams, co-founder of Bankless, in a post on X.
In response, Coinbase’s senior product manager for stablecoins, Will McComb, described the fee as part of an “experiment” to better understand how conversion fees impact user behavior. He emphasized that Coinbase remains committed to making its platform the best place for stablecoin use.
Some analysts and commentators believe the fee is designed to cover Coinbase’s internal costs for handling USDC transactions. Others suggest it’s aimed at curbing arbitrage, where users bypass Tether’s 0.1% off-ramp fee by first converting USDT to USDC and then cashing out to USD for free—an action that could shrink USDC supply.
Crypto influencer Jordan Fish, known as “Cobie,” pointed out the potential arbitrage play, a view Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong appeared to confirm with a simple “Yep.”
Despite fee changes, USDC’s market capitalization has risen 47% since the beginning of the year, while Tether (USDT), the largest stablecoin by volume, has seen a 20% increase, according to data from DeFiLlama.
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