summary: Coinbase is a centralized cryptocurrency exchange platform for buying, selling, transferring, and storing cryptocurrencies.
content: Coinbase is a centralized cryptocurrency exchange platform for buying, selling, transferring, and storing cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Litecoin, and many more. Coinbase is one of the largest crypto exchanges in the United States headquartered in San Francisco, California. As of October 2022, Coinbase supports over 160 crypto assets and has over 90 million customers in more than a hundred countries worldwide. On May 23, 2018, Coinbase announced the launch of Coinbase Pro. Coinbase Pro is an evolution of Global Digital Asset Exchange (GDAX), specifically designed for individual professional crypto traders. On April 14, 2021, Coinbase went public on the Nasdaq exchange via a direct stock listing, rising above $380 per share and going past its initial reference price. In April 2022, Coinbase launched its NFT Marketplace and was initially opened to a small invite-only group of users. In the debut week of its beta version, the marketplace witnessed over 900 transactions and sales volume amounting to 73 ETH or $210,000. Overview Coinbase, which was established in San Francisco in 2012, saw an increase in its assets under management from $35 billion in 2020 to $90 billion in 2021, and it reported a profit for the first quarter of 2021 between $730 and $800 million. In April 2021, the exchange became publicly traded through a direct listing on the Nasdaq, with shares trading under the COIN ticker. The company now has a professional trading platform called Coinbase Pro in addition to its normal exchange (formerly known as GDAX). As of the time of this writing, the company has never experienced a hack. It is reported that 98 percent of customer cash is kept offline in cold storage (also known as unplugged from the Internet), shielding them from malevolent internet hackers. This contributes to Coinbase's strong security record. Additionally, disks and paper backups are geographically dispersed in vaults and safe deposit boxes all around the world. History Early Beginnings (2012-2016) Coinbase was founded in June 2012 by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam. Blockchain.info co-founder Ben Reeves was part of the original founding team but later parted ways with Armstrong due to a difference in how the Coinbase wallet should operate. The remaining founding team enrolled in the Summer 2012 Y Combinator startup incubator program. In October 2012, the company launched the services to buy and sell Bitcoin (BTC) through bank transfers. In May 2013, the company received a $5 million Series A investment led by Fred Wilson from the venture capital firm Union Square Ventures. In December 2013, the company received a $25 million investment, from the venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures (USV), and Ribbit Capital. !coinbase-guys.jpgCoinbase raises $75m Series C in largest round ever for a Bitcoin startup In 2014, the company grew to one million users, acquired the blockchain 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 with Overstock, Dell, Expedia, Dish Network, and Time Inc. allowing those firms to accept bitcoin payments. The company also added bitcoin payment processing capabilities to the traditional payment companies Stripe, Braintree, and PayPal. In January 2015, the company received a $75 million investment, led by Draper Fisher Jurvetson, the New York Stock Exchange, USAA, and several banks. Later in January, the company launched a U.S.-based bitcoin exchange for professional traders called Coinbase 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 its Canadian online payments service provider Vogogo. In May 2016, the company rebranded the Coinbase Exchange, changing the name to Global Digital Asset Exchange (GDAX). In July 2016, they added retail support for Ether. Further Development (2017-2020) In January and then March 2017, Coinbase obtained BitLicense and was licensed to trade in Ethereum and Litecoin from the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS). In November 2017, Coinbase was ordered by the US Internal Revenue Service to report any users who had at least $20,000 in transactions in a year. On February 23, 2018, Coinbase told approximately 13,000 affected customers that the company would be providing their taxpayer ID, name, birth date, address, and historical transaction records from 2013 to 2015 to the IRS within 21 days. On April 5, 2018, Coinbase announced that it has formed an early-stage venture fund, Coinbase Ventures, focused on investment in blockchain and cryptocurrency-related companies. On May 16, 2018, Coinbase Ventures announced its first investment in Compound Labs, a start-up building Ethereum smart contracts similar to money markets. Coinbase Pro Launch On May 23, 2018, Coinbase announced the launch of Coinbase Pro. Coinbase Pro is an evolution of Global Digital Asset Exchange (GDAX), specifically designed for individual crypto traders. GDAX and Coinbase Pro operated side-by-side until June 29, 2018, with activity mirrored on both platforms. After June 29, all customers were rolled over to Coinbase Pro. Users of Coinbase Pro still have direct market access to Coinbase Markets, the single pool of liquidity shared by all Coinbase products. Speaking about Coinbase Pro, the team said: Coinbase Pro is more than a new name — it’s a recognition that the crypto trader requires a product completely dedicated to their specific needs In August 2018, Amazon cloud executive Tim Wagner joined Coinbase as vice president of engineering. In January 2019 Coinbase stopped all trading on Ethereum Classic due to suspicion regarding an attack on the network. Neutrino acquisition In February 2019, Coinbase announced that it had acquired "blockchain intelligence platform" Neutrino, an Italy-based startup, for an undisclosed price. The acquisition raised concern among some Coinbase users based on Neutrino founders' connection to the Hacking Team, which has been accused of providing internet surveillance technology to governments with poor human rights records. On March 4, 2019, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said his company "did not properly evaluate" the deal from a due diligence perspective and thus any Neutrino staff who previously worked at Hacking Team "will transition out of Coinbase." In April 2019, a UK corporate filing stated that Coinbase's non-U.S. revenue grew 20% to €153 million (U.S.$173 million) in 2018 resulting in a net profit of €6.6 million. Coinbase UK CEO Zeeshan Feroz said the company's non-U.S. operations accounted for nearly one-third of the company's overall revenue and Reuters estimated that the company's global revenue totaled "around $520 million" in 2018. Hacking Attempt In August 2019, Coinbase announced that it was targeted by a sophisticated hacking attack attempt in mid-June. This reported attack used spear-phishing and social engineering tactics (including sending fake e-mails from compromised email accounts and created a landing page at the University of Cambridge) and two Firefox browser zero-day vulnerabilities. One of the Firefox vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to escalate privileges from JavaScript on a browser page (CVE-2019–11707) and the second one could allow the attacker to escape the browser sandbox and execute code on the host computer (CVE-2019–11708). Coinbase's security team detected and blocked the attack, the network was not compromised, and no cryptocurrency was stolen. In May 2020, during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Brian Armstrong, CEO and co-founder of Coinbase, announced it would become "remote-first" allowing employees the option to work from home for "the vast majority of roles." "Forgoing a formal headquarters is also more in line with the spirit of crypto, built on the inherent benefits of decentralization," he said in a blog post. In May, Coinbase announced that it acquired Tagomi, an upstart firm that specialized in crypto trading for institutional clients, in an all-stock deal. According to Coinbase Chief Operating Officer Emilie Choi, Tagomi will initially operate as a stand-alone brand, but over time, it would likely be folded into Coinbase Pro, a service that caters to professional traders. In June, a group of Coinbase employees walked out after CEO Brian Armstrong who did not immediately make a public statement in support of Black Lives Matter (BLM). Armstrong wrote that Coinbase will not engage in political activism beyond issues that directly impact the company and that employees shouldn't engage in political discussions at work. Later, Armstrong posted a series of Twitter messages in support of BLM. In addition, he sent emails to employees apologizing for his handling of the topic and assuring them of the company's commitment to an inclusive workplace (including specific actions). Company executives later held a meeting with its internal group for black employees. In September 2020, Armstrong published a blog post emphasizing that Coinbase would not engage in social activism, citing that such activism had hurt other technology firms such as Google and Facebook, and offered a severance package for those who disagreed with this direction. In October 2020, Coinbase announced the launch of a Visa debit card program for US customers. Previously, the card was only available in