Slashdot Mirror
Coinbase Wants Wall Street To Resolve Its Bitcoin Trust Issues (bloomberg.com)
In an effort to use digital money to reinvent finance, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is trying to legitimize itself by convincing big money managers to trust it enough to trade on its exchange. They need to "reassure regulators that bitcoin isn't a silk road for hackers, money launderers and tax evaders," reports Bloomberg. From the report: Despite the table tennis, Coinbase shows glimmers of maturity. More than 10 million customers have used the company since it began, though it recently quit updating the tally on its website. About $57 billion of digital currency has traded on the exchange so far this year. It doubled its staff in that time and expects to do so again in 2018. Ultimately, Coinbase plans to go public. The firm said it's prevailed against security threats, helping it avoid the fate of Mt. Gox, the world's biggest bitcoin exchange before shutting its doors in 2014 after $480 million of customer funds went bye-bye. Coinbase stores 98 percent of users' digital currencies in offline safe-deposit boxes. The remaining 2 percent, which is vulnerable because it's online, is covered by insurance. The company holds more than $10 billion in digital assets. Developing ties with banks is one of the biggest challenges. Coinbase doesn't publicly disclose its banking relationships, but a person familiar with the matter said the company is partnering with Cross River Bank, Metropolitan Bank and Silvergate Bank in the U.S.
because Bitcoin was a currency for Silk Road....
The headline seems pretty inflammatory and off-base. I'd look at TFA but the link goes to some other story that doesn't mention Coinbase.
I'd think archival paper and ink
Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
This a dangerous thing for Coinbase to wish for. Once mainstream financial firms are involved, the regulators will want Coinbase to act more like a real exchange, or at least a real crossing network. With lots of regulations. It's a tremendous burden that existing exchanges have already hurdled.
I'm not so sure the bubble will burst. Since Bitcoin has an upper bound on the total amount of Bitcoins, it seems like it might have a chance at becoming like a collector's item, especially as it has significance as the first successfully implemented cryptocurrency.
"What lies behind us, and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." Ralph Waldo Emerson
The .com stocks of 1998-1999 were a total scam, but it didn't stop Wall Street from profiting from them. I think that they're just pissed because they haven't figured out how to charge large commissions and underwriting fees for trading it, yet.
Coinbase definitely uses plain old printed paper wallets, spread among many safe deposit boxes.
People who say "sheeple" have about as much sophistication as an AOL user, and in fact are probably actually AOL users.