Coinbase Developer Platform: Onboarding devs with the power of referrals

What is Coinbase Developer Platform?

Coinbase is one of the world’s leading crypto companies, offering a wide range of products for individuals, institutions, and developers. Its Developer Platform (CDP) provides scalable tools to build Web3 experiences—from wallets and payments to onchain data access and automation—on top of Coinbase’s infrastructure.

With the recent growth of onchain apps and services on Base, Coinbase is now doubling down on giving builders better tools to drive adoption. And with referrals playing a key role in user acquisition, the company turned to Fuul to help make that part easier.

The Challenge

Coinbase wanted more developers actively building with their Platform.

Not just signups or clicks, but real usage: developers integrating the SDK, testing endpoints, using Wallet APIs, Onramp, ArgenKit, OnchainKit and Paymaster to build live Web3 apps.

To qualify as an active user, a developer needs to:

• Sign up through a Fuul referral link
• Make at least 100 non-GET API calls in a single week

The challenge was how to drive this level of engagement at scale, in a way that’s trackable, flexible, and easy for both CDP and the developers joining the program.

The Solution

Coinbase launched a dedicated affiliate program through Fuul, providing a no-code incentives platform for developers and curators building on CDP.

Using Fuul, Coinbase Developer Platform was able to deploy a fully functional rewards system in just a few steps.

Conversion Events

The CDP affiliate program is designed to reward affiliates based on real developer engagement.

To qualify for rewards, a developer must meet the following criteria:

• They referrers have to sign up via their unique Fuul referral link
• Reach 100+ non-GET API calls within a single week (Monday–Sunday)

This ensures that rewards go to affiliates who are driving meaningful adoption.

Payout Rules

Affiliates can earn up to $500 per week in ETH by referring developers. Here’s how it works:

• $300 in ETH for their first referred and active developer
• $50 in ETH every week for each additional active developer (100 API calls per week)

Once a conversion happens, Fuul automatically calculates rewards based on the rules set by Coinbase Developer Platform.

To keep the program fair and easy to manage, a weekly cap of $500 in ETH per affiliate was set directly within Fuul, making sure rewards stay under control while still motivating quality users. Fuul also handles the entire budget logic and payout flow, so the Coinbase team doesn’t have to worry about tracking or manual approvals.

Incentives Hub

To bring everything together, Coinbase launched a branded incentives hub, powered by Fuul, where affiliates can:

• Track their referrals
• View earnings in real time
• Access their personal link
• Understand how to earn more

You can check out the Coinbase referral hub here.

Coinbase Login-Only Access

To join the program, users must log in with their Coinbase account. This ensures that every participant has completed KYC, making the program more secure and helping prevent abuse.

Results

The launch of the program brought real excitement to the Base Batches Workshop, with builders showing up early and ready to get started.

So far, it’s already onboarded over 40 developers. These are developers testing the SDK, making real API calls, and actively building on CDP.

It’s a great start and a sign that when you combine clear incentives with the right tools, you don’t just get growth, you get real progress.

Even though it’s still early days, the results so far show that there’s real interest in using onchain referrals to grow. And when you pair that with simple, flexible tools like Fuul, it just works.

Conclusion

Bringing more developers into Web3 starts with removing friction, and that’s exactly what this program achieved. With clear goals, simple rules, and real incentives, CDP is onboarding devs who don’t just sign up, they build.

And with Fuul powering the backend, everything runs smoothly, tracking, payouts, and growth, without adding work for the team.

It’s not just an affiliate program. It’s an engine for developer adoption.