Coinbase is a digital
currency exchange headquartered in San Francisco, California. They broker
exchanges of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other digital assets with fiat in
32 countries, and bitcoin transactions
and storage in 190 countries worldwide.
History: Coinbase was founded in July 2011 by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam, It enrolled in the Summer 2012 Y Combinator startup program. In October 2012, the company launched the services to buy and sell bitcoin through bank transfers.
In
May 2013, the company received a US$5 million Series investment led by
Fred from the venture capital firm Union Square Ventures. In December
2013, the company received a US$25 million investment, from the venture capital
firms Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square (USV) and Ribbit Capital.
In
2014, the company grew to one million users, acquired the explorer
service Blockr and the web bookmarking company Kippt,
secured insurance covering the value of bitcoin stored on their servers, and
launched the vault system for secure bitcoin storage. Throughout 2014, the
company also formed partnerships tock, Dell, Expedia, Dish Network, Time Inc. with
Overs to power accepting bitcoin payments. The company also added bitcoin
payment processing capabilities to the traditional payment companies Stripe,
Braintree, and Pay Pal.
In
January 2015, the company received a US$75 million investment, led by Draper,
the New York Stock Exchange, USAA, and several banks, "apparently the
first time any traditional financial institutions have taken direct stakes in a
bitcoin enterprise. Later in January, the company launched a U.S.-based
bitcoin exchange for professional traders called Coinbase Exchange.
In
May 2015 there was controversy around reports on that Coinbase had asked a
user to describe how they were spending their bitcoin; the Daily Dot reported
on the matter, and received a statement from stating: "We don’t
comment on specific cases, however, Coinbase is required to monitor activity on
its platform in accordance with the Bank Secrecy Act and other regulation
governing all money services business (MSB).”; the Daily Dot noted
that CoinDesk is obligated to comply with the Bank Secrecy Act, which prevents
money laundering, in order to operate as an exchange.
Coinbase
began to offer services in Canada in 2015, but in July 2016, Coinbase announced
it would halt services in August after the closure of their Canadian online
payments service provider Vogogo.
On
29 March 2016, Coinbase was listed by UK-based company Richtopia at
number 2 in the list of The 100 Most Influential Blockchain
Organisations.
In
May 2016, the company rebranded the Coinbase Exchange, changing the name to the
Global Digital Asset Exchange (GDAX) and offering Ether, the value token
of Ethereum, for trade on its
professional trading exchange service. In July 2016, they extended the
support to their "Coinbase" retail exchange by adding Ether Eas only the second digital currency
offered to retail customers.
On
January 17, 2017, Coinbase obtained the from the New York State Department
of Financial Services (DFS), which authorizes the company continuing virtual
currency business operations in New York.
On
March 2017, Coinbase received from New York State Department of Financial
Services (DFS) the approval to offer trading of Ethereum and Litecoin currencies
in New York.
On
October 12, 2017, Coinbase announced instant, ethereum and litecoin purchases
for users using a U.S. bank account. Previously, users purchasing through a
bank account had to wait several days before receiving digital funds.
One
November 29, 2017, Coinbase was "ordered to report 14,355 users to the
IRS... all users who have bought, sold, sent, or received more than $20,000
through their accounts in a single year.
On
December 09, 2017 the coinbase app became the #1 app in the Apple App Store (iOS).
Products: Coinbase has two core products: a Global Digital Asset Exchange (GDAX) for trading a variety of digital assets on its professional asset trading platform, and a user-facing retail broker of Bitcoin, Ether, and Litecoin for fiat currency. It also offers an API for developers and merchants to build applications and accept payments in both digital currencies. As of 2014, the company offered buy/sell trading functionality in 25 countries, while the cryptocurrency wallet was available in 190 countries worldwide.
