Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has pushed for stricter regulations on centralized crypto actors, but says decentralized protocols should be allowed to flourish given that open-source code and smart contracts are alrea“the ultimate form of disclosure.” Armstrong shared his views on cryptocurrency regulation in a Dec. 20 Coinbase blog where he proposed how regulators can help “restore trust” and move the industry forward as the market continues to recover from the damage done by FTX and its shock collapse. But decentralized protocols aren’t part of that equation, the Coinbase CEO emphasized. “Decentralized arrangements do not involve intermediaries [and] open-source code and …

Major cryptocurrency platform Coinbase has offered an asset recovery tool for users who “mistakenly send unsupported tokens” to exchange addresses. In a Dec. 15 announcement, Coinbase said users who sent any of roughly 4,000 ERC-20 tokens to a Coinbase address could recover their previously unrecoverable funds by providing “the Ethereum TXID for the transaction where the asset was lost and the contract address of the lost asset.” The exchange said certain ETC-20 tokens including Wrapped Ether (wETH), TrueUSD (TUSD), and staked Ether (STETH) would be eligible for recovery, with a 5% charge on transactions of more than $100. “Our recovery …

United States-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has asked its customers to convert their Tether-issued USDT (USDT) stablecoin to USD Coin (USDC), a USD-pegged stablecoin issued by Circle and co-founded by Coinbase in 2018. The cryptocurrency exchange suggested that USDC is a much more secure alternative in the wake of the FTX collapse saga and has also exempted any fee on the conversion of USDT to USDC on its platform. The firm said: “We believe that USD Coin (USDC) is a trusted and reputable stablecoin, so we’re making it more frictionless to switch: starting today, we’re waiving fees for global retail customers …

The parallel development of payment processors for digital currencies is taking place along with the implementation of blockchain technology in various industries like healthcare, academics, supply chain and among others. Businesses willing to accept cryptocurrencies as a payment method rather than fiat currencies rely upon crypto payment gateways to operate. Without the trouble of needing to keep a cryptocurrency wallet and convert digital currency into fiat money, a crypto payment gateway can offer a straightforward solution for a merchant to adopt crypto. This facilitates the broader acceptance of digital currencies and makes it simpler for a vendor to provide cryptocurrency …

For the uninitiated, the world of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology can be daunting, confusing and difficult to comprehend. Three industry experts and a skeptical economist explore the past, present and future of the burgeoning technology in a new online learning series. Masterclass is a web-based education platform that offers “classes” from subject matter experts in their respective spheres of influence. You can learn how to cook with Gordon Ramsay, explore the art of acting with Natalie Portman or master the tennis racket with Serena Williams. Its newly launched series on cryptocurrencies, blockchain and Web3 technology follows in the same vein. …

The CEO of Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, has revealed that the exchange’s trading revenue has declined by approximately 50% or more when compared to last year, according to a Dec. 7 report from Bloomberg. Armstrong made the statement as part of an interview with the David Rubenstein Show. When asked about the exchange’s revenue, he stated that the company did $7 billion in revenue and $4 billion in earnings in 2021, but “it’s looking, you know, about roughly half that or less” in 2022. Bloomberg said that a spokesperson for Coinbase later clarified that 2022 revenue, not earnings, was projected to …

The self-custody crypto wallet from Coinbase said users can no longer send nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, due to interference from Apple. In a Dec. 1 Twitter thread, Coinbase Wallet said the tech company with a more than $2 trillion market capitalization had blocked the latest release of its app in an effort to “collect 30% of the gas fee” through in-app purchases. The platform claimed Apple wanted Coinbase Wallet to disable NFT transactions, introducing “new policies to protect their profits at the expense of consumer investment in NFTs and developer innovation across the crypto ecosystem.” “For anyone who understands how …

In a blog post on November 30, Coinbase sought to clarify its bug bounty program policies in response to the recent Uber data breach verdict. The company stated that it still welcomes “responsible” disclosure of security issues, but users who abuse this process will not be awarded bug bounties: “The key word in all of this is ‘responsible’. In the wake of the recent Uber verdict, there is a lot of concern in the industry about bug bounty submissions becoming extortion attempts. At Coinbase, [...] we’ve put a lot of thought into how we operate our bug bounty program to …

On Nov. 29, Crypto Twitter users posted screenshots of help pages on the Coinbase app, saying that the wallet would no longer support Bitcoin Cash (BCH), XRP (XRP), Ethereum Classic (ETC), and Stellar (XLM) as well as their networks. The crypto firm cited "low usage" of the four tokens in its decision to stop support starting on Dec. 5. "This does not mean your assets will be lost," said the announcement. "Any unsupported asset that you hold will still be tied to your address(es) and accessible through your Coinbase Wallet recovery phrase." oof pic.twitter.com/oazKOspuTK — Jameson Lopp (@lopp) November 29, …

With digital asset management firm Grayscale refusing to provide proof of reserves for its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), an independent analyst has spent days combing through the blockchain to independently verify its holdings. The OXT Research analyst, Ergo, used on-chain forensics to confirm that as of Nov. 23 that the GBTC owns approximately 633,000 Bitcoin (BTC) held by its custodian, Coinbase Custody. The Grayscale G(BTC) Coins Part 2 In this analysis we use additional on-chain forensics to CONFIRM the approximate 633k BTC balance held by G(BTC) at Coinbase Custody. Which begs the question, why does Grayscale refuse to disclose their …

A survey of institutional investors suggests that their cryptocurrency allocations have increased over the last year despite the industry going through a prolonged crypto winter. A Coinbase-sponsored survey released on Nov. 22 conducted between Sep. 21 and Oct. 27, found 62% of institutional investors invested in crypto had increased their allocations over the past 12 months. In comparison, only 12% had decreased their crypto exposure, indicating most institutional investors may be bullish on digital assets in the long term despite prices falling, according to the survey. More than half of the investors surveyed said they were currently, or planning, to …

Coinbase was trending on Twitter on Nov. 22 after Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, known also as CZ, sent out a tweet that appeared to question Coinbase’s Bitcoin holdings. In the since deleted tweet, CZ referenced a yahoo finance article that alleged that “Coinbase Custody holds 635,000 BTC on behalf of Grayscale.” CZ added, “4 months ago, Coinbase (I assume exchange) has less than 600K,” with a link to a 4 month old article from Bitcoinist. The Binance CEO made it clear that he was simply quoting “news reports", and not making any claims of his own. However, his tweet was …