Coinbase has invested in ProShares’ $GENIUS Money Market ETF, known as IQMM, a money market ETF designed to be eligible for stablecoin reserves under the $GENIUS Act.
The investment expands Coinbase’s stablecoin strategy beyond payments, distribution, and developer tools into reserve management, one of the less visible but critical layers needed for stablecoin adoption. The $GENIUS Act set federal standards requiring payment stablecoins to be backed 1 to 1 by high quality, highly liquid assets, creating demand for reserve products built around those requirements.
IQMM is structured around short term US Treasuries with maturities of 93 days or less, cash, and cash equivalents. The fund is designed to meet Section 4 reserve requirements under the $GENIUS Act, giving stablecoin issuers another option for managing liquidity, creation, and redemption activity.
Coinbase said stablecoins have improved how money moves by enabling instant, around the clock settlement for users, businesses, developers, and AI agents. But the company said stablecoin growth also requires stronger infrastructure for managing the assets that support those tokens.
Stablecoin reserve management has historically depended on a narrower set of banking and cash management rails. Coinbase said it expects stablecoin creation and redemption to increasingly rely on a broader mix of high quality cash equivalent assets, including Treasuries, ETFs, money market funds, and tokenized versions of those instruments.
ProShares brings two decades of ETF infrastructure experience to the product, while Coinbase is positioning the investment as part of its broader push to build the full stack for stablecoin adoption. That includes payments, distribution, developer infrastructure, and now reserve operations.
The investment comes as stablecoins move deeper into mainstream financial infrastructure. Coinbase said stablecoins offer a better way to move money, but the industry also needs better ways to manage the reserves behind them.
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