Coinbase has added a sign-up path for AI agents to its account creation flow, chief executive Brian Armstrong posted on X on Nov. 2. "We added a new sign up page for Agents," Armstrong wrote. "We're building Coinbase to be the most AI-enabled financial account." The launch lands two days before Coinbase starts a global derivatives trading competition with a prize pool of up to 2 million USDC, which the company is promoting to people who let agents trade for them.
A 39-second video attached to Armstrong's post shows the change. Coinbase's account picker now asks "What type of account are you creating?" and offers two tabs, "For you" and "For your agent." The first lists the existing Personal, Business, Institutional and Developer accounts. The agent tab does not open a separate account for the software. It tells visitors, "To get started, create a personal account, then connect your agent," and offers setup links for agent apps including ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Muse.
What the agent can do
The connection itself is not new. Armstrong first pointed followers to the Coinbase for Agents page in an Oct. 22 post, writing that users would be able to "trade, pay, borrow, etc - all through your agent, with clear limits and controls." According to the page, an agent connected through Coinbase's MCP server, or its command-line tool where MCP is not supported, can review a portfolio and trade crypto and stocks, with futures available where the user's region and account allow it.
Coinbase says on the page that users can require approval before each trade, give an agent its own portfolio so it only trades funds moved into it, and end its access with one tap, while every agent trade also runs within Coinbase's own safety limits. The company states that an agent "can never send funds off Coinbase." In the U.S., agents can also buy market data with USDC through the x402 payment standard, capped at $5 per payment and $50 per day, the page says. Coinbase lists no extra fee for the service beyond its standard trading fees.
Responsibility sits with the account holder. A disclaimer on the page reads: "AI agents may fail. You direct all AI activity and assume full responsibility for your agent's trades and any third-party data use." Earlier on Nov. 2, Coinbase announced that perpetual futures, powered by Deribit, were live for eligible traders on Coinbase for Agents.
The Champions Cup
Coinbase posted the same day that users "could win up to $2M while sleeping" if they set up an agent on Coinbase and registered for its global trading competition, where trading starts Nov. 4. Armstrong quoted that post with the line "May the best agent swarm win."
The competition page says the Coinbase Champions Cup runs from Nov. 4 at 00:00 UTC to Nov. 25 at 23:59 UTC. The prize pool starts at 100,000 USDC and grows with total trading volume to a maximum of 2,000,000 USDC, with a top individual prize of up to $150,000 in USDC. Only derivatives trades on Coinbase Advanced count toward the rankings, and spot trades are excluded. Entrants must trade at least 100 USDC in eligible derivatives volume to appear on a leaderboard.
The official terms do not mention AI agents, so agent-driven and manual accounts compete under the same rules. Participants must be at least 18, live in an eligible jurisdiction, hold an identity-verified Coinbase account and qualify for perpetual futures on Coinbase Advanced, according to the terms. The competition is run by Coinbase Bermuda Ltd., and U.S. participants may rank only on the two profit-and-loss leaderboards, not the one for trading volume. Coinbase says it may use automated and manual reviews to screen for wash trading and other abuse, and that prizes are generally paid in USDC within 60 to 90 days after the contest ends.
Source: Brian Armstrong on X, Brian Armstrong, “We added a new sign up page for Agents”
Additional sources: Coinbase, “Coinbase for Agents”; Coinbase, “Coinbase Champions Cup”; Coinbase, “Coinbase Champions Cup Terms and Conditions”; Coinbase on X, Coinbase, “Here's how you could win up to $2M while sleeping”; Brian Armstrong on X, Brian Armstrong, “May the best agent swarm win.”; Coinbase on X, Coinbase, “Perps trade 24/7. Now, so can your agent.”; Brian Armstrong on X, Brian Armstrong, “Our new agents page is live”
