Our Impact

Syntax partnered with the Coinbase Developer Platform (CDP) team to design and implement a focused initiative that combined polished applications with developer-friendly content. Over six weeks, we delivered three applications—a swap widget, a smart account playground, and a Coinbase-branded ATM interface—along with video walkthroughs, blogs, and twitter threads. Together, these assets lowered barriers for non-crypto native developers, shortened integration timelines, and improved onboarding flows for end-users.

The Client and Their Challenge

Coinbase, a global leader in cryptocurrency, offers the Coinbase Developer Platform (CDP) as infrastructure for builders integrating crypto into their products. While the Coinbase APIs are robust, adoption lagged because developers lacked practical, end-to-end examples. Documentation explained individual endpoints but stopped short of showing how wallet creation, fiat onramps, and swaps could be combined into real user flows.

The Cost of the Problem

Without examples, developers spent days or weeks piecing together integrations, risking errors in areas like wallet provisioning or transaction handling. This extended time-to-market and produced inconsistent onboarding flows. Higher friction on the user side led to drop-offs and abandoned signups. Developer challenges directly translated into poor end-user experience.

Our Approach

We set out to create demos that felt like real products while showcasing CDP’s flexibility. Our strategy had two parts: build working applications that developers could fork immediately, and pair them with resources that explained how everything fit together.

Lightweight Widget

The first project was a functional swap widget built with Next.js and TypeScript, connected to Coinbase’s wallet, onramp, and trading services. Beyond basic swapping (which Coinbase calls their Trade API)  we focused on pain points developers usually face—dynamic routing for best prices, slippage controls, granular approvals, and robust error handling. 

Smart Account Playground

Next, we built a sandbox for experimenting with advanced wallet features. Developers could provision embedded accounts, batch multiple transfers, and toggle between gasless and paid execution using a Paymaster. A custom call builder enabled chaining complex operations—features that usually demand deep expertise in account abstraction.

ATM Prototype

Finally, we created a Coinbase-branded ATM interface to inspire new UX patterns. Users could purchase USDC with fiat and instantly trade into another token in an interactive, animated UI. The goal was not only functionality but sparking ideas for nontraditional applications of CDP’s stack.

Supporting Content

Alongside the builds, we produced layered content: in-depth writeups for technical audiences, concise video explainers, and twitter threads for broader reach. This ensured accessibility whether someone wanted to dive into code or explore product possibilities. This content will also be used on the Coinbase Developer Platform and can be referenced in their developer documentation. 

Results

By the end of the sprint, CDP had a portfolio of remixable assets. Developers could clone a repo, plug in their API keys, and launch a swap and onramp widget within minutes. They could also follow the content to understand design choices and adapt projects to their needs.

The initiative bridged the gap between Coinbase’s APIs and real-world adoption. Onboarding flows that once took weeks of trial and error could now be integrated in a single afternoon. End-users could move from fiat to usable tokens in under thirty seconds. And the CDP team now has tangible examples to showcase how their platform could power not just crypto apps, but new UX paradigms altogether.