Coinbase

Coinbase, founded in June 2012 by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam, is a leading cryptocurrency exchange and wallet platform headquartered in San Francisco.

As of June 2020, Coinbase claims to serve over 30 million customers and has facilitated the exchange of more than $150 billion worth of cryptocurrencies.

After raising $300 million in late 2018, the startup was valued at over $8 billion. Privately held companies with valuations of over $1 billion are colloquially known as "unicorns."

Coinbase offers a variety of different products to its users, including a retail exchange (simply referred to as Coinbase) through which users can trade fiat for a variety of cryptocurrencies. Likewise, Coinbase provides a wallet capable of storing multiple cryptocurrencies and tokens in addition to digital collectibles. The company also offers offline cryptocurrency storage for institutions through its Coinbase Custody product. In May 2020, Coinbase acquired crypto prime broker Tagomi to further develop its product suite for institutional investors.

Coinbase’s other products include a professional trading platform called Coinbase Pro (previously branded as GDAX), and Coinbase Commerce, which enables merchants and developers to use cryptocurrency payments within their businesses. Coinbase also has an investment arm, Coinbase Ventures, which was launched in 2018 to fund blockchain startups and protocols.

"Coinbase holds less than 2% of customer funds online," the company says in its help center. "The rest is held in offline storage."

This article was originally published on Jun 8, 2020 at 7:35 p.m. UTC

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CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.