When Coinbase officially announced, Close your Web3 wallet In the July 7, 2025 feature, this move seemed foreseeable. This was the retirement of an adjacent product in favor of Coinbase Wallet. However, something happened next that many users did not expect, and some users were confused about accessing their assets.
Web3 Wallet initially allowed users to mint NFTs, exchange tokens, and access decentralized applications directly from Coinbase’s main app. To casual users, it seemed like a self-administered product. However, unlike the standalone Coinbase Wallet app where users have full control over their private key and seed phrase, Coinbase explains Web3 Wallet is a crypto wallet where “Coinbase holds half of your private keys and the other half is stored on your device.”
This distinction was important when the Web3 wallet retirement plan began.
Despite multiple warning emails and in-app notifications, the migration process left many users confused. Part of the problem was in functionality.
“I thought I owned my own virtual currency”
Prior to July 7, Web3 Wallet allowed users to hold and manipulate various assets through manual transfers and bridging, even though it did not officially support integration with networks such as Base and Binance Smart Chain. This blurred the lines of support and led many to believe that they would still have access to their assets after the feature was deprecated.
On several public forums, including Reddit, including Coinbase’s official subreddit, users vented about broken migration tools and fears that their cryptocurrencies were disappearing.
Coinbase is closing down the Web3 wallet and attempting to erase its existence without assisting in recovering funds stuck on other chains such as the bsc chain.
— Jolikiss the best, more r/coinbase
…Support is useless. They don’t open tickets and don’t respond.
Your wallet will disappear without money.
— words are loaded, from r/coinbase
Users repeatedly described the process of trying to recover their funds as a perpetual cycle of futile migration warnings, broken instructions, and support channels repeating the same answers given previously.
However, this problem is not limited to Base or BSC. Users also struggled to access assets on supported networks such as Ethereum and Polygon. These holdings will remain visible on-chain, but will no longer be visible in the Coinbase app and cannot be moved around within the app. Some experienced users chose not to migrate because they did not feel the alternatives were safer. In some cases, the asset may still be visible elsewhere using blockchain analysis tools, but it is now fixed.
Ahead of the July 7 deadline, many users attempted to transfer their holdings and contacted Coinbase support multiple times. Each time, they received the same general instructions: links to the already exhausted FAQ and help pages.
When the deadline passed, their assets did not disappear. It is no longer visible in the Coinbase app. Ethereum and Polygon NFTs, including Banksy NFTs, and Avalanche and Base tokens are no longer visible in the interface.
Despite user testimonials and on-chain analysis suggesting that its scope extends beyond unsupported chains, a Coinbase spokesperson responded to the aforementioned issue regarding the Web3 wallet decommissioning process with the following:
Coinbase acknowledges that some users had difficulty accessing assets through Web3 wallets that allowed them to send to unsupported networks, such as BSC, as a result of a bug in the product. Users affected by this bug contacted us prior to July 7th and received in-kind refunds from USDC for assets stuck in BSC. Coinbase has never claimed to support accessing BSC or other unsupported networks.
Additionally, Coinbase says affected users who contacted them before the July deadline have been refunded in kind. In other words, users could not get their original tokens back and were refunded in stablecoins. The difference is remarkable. Assets were replaced rather than recovered.
Experienced users are at a loss
Among those caught up in this issue is Joey Dunn, better known in the crypto community as “LeDrop WithCheese.” Dan is not in this field temporarily. He is a long-time user and is well-versed in managing wallets, interacting with decentralized applications, and securing your assets. Given his background, he is a candidate unlikely to stumble in the migration process.
But Dunn’s experience shows that confusion was not limited to beginners. Despite his expertise, he documented assets that remained visible on-chain but inaccessible through Coinbase’s interface, effectively frozen in place. His careful tracking of the issue, including screenshots and blockchain records, highlights how even tech-savvy users were left without a clear path forward.
Due to his name recognition and credibility within crypto circles, Dunn’s case has become representative of broader issues facing users. His situation breaks the narrative that these are just “unsupported network” errors, or the result of user misunderstanding. Rather, it highlights the structural flaws in wallet products based on shared control, which can leave even the most experienced technologists stuck when providers change the rules.
Web3 wallet sunset issue highlights “not the key, not the coin” issue
To be clear, wallet access is still available and Coinbase has updated its help article to reflect the removal of the July deadline. Currently, every time a user opens their wallet, a pop-up message appears warning them to delete their assets as Web3 wallets will eventually no longer be supported.
Nevertheless, confusion arises when products blur the line between convenience and control. The cryptocurrency community has long preached the gospel of self-control. There’s a saying: “It’s not the key, it’s not the coin.” But that clarity is becoming increasingly murky as centralized exchanges seek to introduce smoother interfaces and lower friction to the masses.
The retirement of Coinbase’s Web3 wallet is more than just a product closure. This is a warning. If you don’t fully hold your keys, you may not own any cryptocurrency at all.
Updated October 8th: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the date Web3 was created. Wallet users may lose access to their assets, but Coinbase did not include any comments. This article has been updated to reflect the company’s latest statements regarding access, and the article includes statements from Coinbase staff regarding the company’s policies and redemptions.
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