Coinbase

Coinbase, Inc.
Founded San Francisco, California, United States (June 20, 2012)
Headquarters San Francisco, California, United States
Area served Worldwide
Founder(s) Brian Armstrong
Fred Ehrsam
Products Bitcoin exchange and wallet service
Website coinbase.com
Users 2,100,000 (Jan 2015)[1]
[2][3][4]

Coinbase is a bitcoin wallet and exchange service headquartered in San Francisco California, founded by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam.[3][5] Users of Coinbase can buy and sell bitcoin at the current market rate with a bank transfer in both the United States and eighteen European countries for a fee of about 1% of the value of the transaction.[6][7][8] Coinbase aims to make it easier for non-technical users to send and receive Bitcoin payments by offering an online wallet service for storing, sending, and receiving bitcoins; along with merchant services that enable businesses to accept bitcoin payments online, and fee-free micropayments between Coinbase accounts.[9][10] To use the buy/sell service, customers have to provide bank details, setup two-factor authentication on a mobile phone and wait three days.[11]

Reception

Coinbase has been noted for being one of the more user-friendly bitcoin exchanges,[12] although it has been criticized for cancelled and delayed orders and unresponsive customer support.[13] Coinbase has declined to provide payment processing services for U.S. marijuana businesses on the grounds that federal law prohibits it even if state laws do not.[14]

Growth

In October 2014, Coinbase announced they are adding multi-signature technology to their vault product.

In January 2015, Coinbase announced its U.S. Bitcoin exchange.[15]

Capital investments

In May 2013, Coinbase received a US$5 million Series A investment. The round of funding was led by Fred Wilson from the venture capital firm Union Square Ventures.[16]

In December 2013, Coinbase received a US$25 million investment, from the venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures and Ribbit Capital.[17] The company has received US$31 million in capital investments, nearly one-third of the total publicly disclosed investment in Bitcoin companies made as of February 2014.[18]

In January 2015, Coinbase received a US$75 million investment, led by Draper Fisher Jurvetson, 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".[19]

Partners

In December 2013, Coinbase became the bitcoin payment service provider for an online retailer Overstock.com.[20] In January 2014, personal finance app Mint added integration with Coinbase, enabling its users to track their bitcoin purchases alongside their other expenses.[21]

In June 2014, Coinbase also became the bitcoin processor for an online travel site, Expedia,[22][23] and later in July for a personal computing company, Dell.[24]

In December 2014, Coinbase became the bitcoin processor for the digital content and magazine company Time Inc.,[25]

Security

Breaches of individual Coinbase accounts have been reported, and users are recommended to enable two-factor authentication on their account.[26]

References

  1. ↑ Nermin Hajdarbegovic (2013-12-19). "Coinbase passes 650,000 users in less than a year". CoinDesk. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  2. ↑ "About Coinbase". Coinbase. Retrieved 1 Oct 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Company Overview of Coinbase, Inc.". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  4. ↑ "Coinbase". LinkedIn. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  5. ↑ "Dish Network Says It Will Accept Bitcoin". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  6. ↑ Fowler, Geoffrey A. (2014-02-18). "Bitcoin experiment in everyday life". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
  7. ↑ Fung, Brian. "Expedia wants you to book your next hotel stay with Bitcoin". The Washington Post. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  8. ↑ Ember, Sydney (2014-09-10). "Coinbase Extends Bitcoin Access to International Customers". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  9. ↑ Tricia Duryee (2012-06-29). "Betting on Bitcoin: Coinbase wants to be the PayPal of Internet-only currency". All Things Digital.
  10. ↑ David Meyer (2013-08-06). "Can Bitcoin enable the fabled micropayments revolution? Coinbase thinks it’s worth a shot". GigaOM.
  11. ↑ Jeff John Roberts (2013-07-18). "Bitcoin's Open-Air Trading Floor". Bloomberg Businessweek.
  12. ↑ Alexia Tsotsis (2013-05-27). "Coinbase leads charge in Bitcoin’s consumerization". TechCrunch.
  13. ↑ Ranvier, Justus (2013-07-16). "Coinbase: Instant purchases, delayed support". Bitcoin Magazine. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
  14. ↑ Hill, Kashmir (2014-02-10). "Marijuana shop's plan to accept Bitcoin goes up in smoke". Forbes. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
  15. ↑ Bensinger, Greg (2015-01-25). "First U.S. Bitcoin Exchange Set to Open". Wall Street Journal.
  16. ↑ Sarah E. Needleman (2013-05-07). "Coinbase Nabs $5M in Biggest Funding for Bitcoin Startup". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  17. ↑ Alex Williams (2013-12-12). "Coinbase Raises $25M Led By Andreessen Horowitz To Build Its Bitcoin Wallet And Merchant Services". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2013-12-13.
  18. ↑ Garrick Hileman (2014-02-24). "Following the Money: Geographic Dispersion of VC Bitcoin Investment". CoinDesk. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
  19. ↑ Vigna, Paul and Casey, Michael (2015-01-20). "Coinbase raises 75 million in funding round". Wall Street Journal.
  20. ↑ Burns, Matt (2013-12-21). "Overstock.com partners with Coinbase and starts accepting bitcoins as payment". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  21. ↑ D'Onfro, Jillian (2014-01-30). "Popular budgeting app Mint adds Bitcoin support with Coinbase". Business Insider. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
  22. ↑ Kharif, Olga. "Expedia to Accept Bitcoins for Online Hotel Bookings". Bloomberg. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  23. ↑ "Expedia.com Now Accepts Bitcoin to Give Travelers More Choice and Flexibility in Hotel Payments". Bloomberg. Jun 11, 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  24. ↑ Wilhelm, Alex (2014-07-18). "Dell Now Accepts Bitcoin For All Online U.S. Purchases". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2014-07-24.
  25. ↑ Rizzo, Pete. "Time Inc Becomes First Major Magazine Publisher to Accept Bitcoin". Coindesk. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  26. ↑ Lowensohn, Josh (2014-02-07). "A string of thefts hit Bitcoin's most reputable wallet service". The Verge. Retrieved 2014-02-25.