Coinbase, one of the largest and fastest growing companies in the Bitcoin space, recently received a $75 million investment from high-profile backers and launched an exchange.
In addition to recently announcing their Series C funding and launching the first licensed exchange in the United States, Coinbase is focusing on continued international expansion and promoting their developer platform.
Adam White, head of business development and strategy at Coinbase, tells Bitcoin Magazine that Coinbase Exchange has been live for about a month, and it’s already one of top five exchanges in the world in terms of USD trading volume.
“The idea for our exchange came from the fact that there were exchanges around the world providing great service, but few operating in a compliant manner,” White said. “We wanted to be the first in the U.S. to do so.”
The exchange currently is available in 26 states and Puerto Rico, with licenses in 16 of those states. Coinbase is working to be licensed and able to work in all 50 states.
Coinbase is registered as a Money Service Business with the Federal Government through the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN,) but is required to obtain a money transmitter license for most states in which they open the exchange.
Each state has different prerequisites, and Coinbase is working with regulators to get the exchange open in more states.
It plans to eventually launch internationally with a priority of opening an exchange in Europe.
White made it clear, however, that Coinbase doesn’t plan on launching exchanges everywhere.
“Coinbase can’t be in every country,” he said. “That would require us to have a banking relationship in each country we wish to start an exchange in. In some cases we would rather provide the tools that help other businesses spread bitcoins across national boundaries.”
Some new potential ways people can use bitcoin include remittances, microtransactions and cross-border payments.
“With Bitcoin, international transactions can be made essentially free. We have always encouraged other services to use our APIs; we want to provide the infrastructure necessary to help push the industry forward,” White said.
“Finding new use cases for Bitcoin is a priority for us,” he said. “Coinbase is aiming to be the trusted brand in the space, providing a safe, secure and trusted platform focused on customer satisfaction.”
Image via Coinbase.com
