Coinbase intends to become a digital currency company not a bitcoin company

[alyssa85]

Here is Brian Armstrong's blogpost:

https://blog.coinbase.com/completing-our-transition-to-becoming-a-digital-currency-company-not-just-a-bitcoin-company-6bcc44ca40ee#.weif1pwrm

Completing our transition to becoming a digital currency company (not just a Bitcoin company)

As we kick off 2017, I think it’s important for Coinbase and GDAX to continue supporting more crypto currencies. We are no longer just a Bitcoin company. We are a digital currency company.

This past year, we started the process by adding support for Ethereum. This was a major step. In 2017, you’ll see us continue that trend.

...It’s incredibly difficult to predict the future and the digital currency industry is no exception (take the above for what it is, pure speculation). Rapid change seems to be the only certainty. For this reason, you’ll see Coinbase and GDAX continue to support more crypto-currencies in 2017. As the most popular retail exchange (Coinbase) and institutional exchange in the U.S. (GDAX), we want to make it easy for people to use all types of digital currencies. Our goal going forward is to not play favorites, or support one digital currency more than any other, but simply to make it easy for customers to buy and sell whatever digital currencies they want. In this way, we can help support growth of the entire digital currency industry.

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[tiggytomb]

I see this as a positive move for Coinbase, from their point of view they will be gaining the extra income via the fees, my only hope is that they do not get over excited and add a lot of bad coins like other exchanges such as Yobit.

[European Central Bank]

I see this as a positive move for Coinbase, from their point of view they will be gaining the extra income via the fees, my only hope is that they do not get over excited and add a lot of bad coins like other exchanges such as Yobit.

eth was a bad enough move.

they're a big company with tons of legit funding with regulation up the ass. the last thing they should be doing is aiding speculation on shit created by nobodies for their own personal gain off the back of a bunch of fevered kiddies.

there's a weird disconnect between the company themselves and the products they plan to hawk. very, very few of the potential products are mature and unsullied enough to touch.

[alyssa85]

I see this as a positive move for Coinbase, from their point of view they will be gaining the extra income via the fees, my only hope is that they do not get over excited and add a lot of bad coins like other exchanges such as Yobit.

eth was a bad enough move.

they're a big company with tons of legit funding with regulation up the ass. the last thing they should be doing is aiding speculation on shit created by nobodies for their own personal gain off the back of a bunch of fevered kiddies.

there's a weird disconnect between the company themselves and the products they plan to hawk. very, very few of the potential products are mature and unsullied enough to touch.

They are not "aiding speculation on shit" - they are sensibly preparing for the demise of bitcoin. Bitcoin is now centralised in China (both mining and trading), and the Chinese govt now has influence over it. In addition, the whole blocksize thing STILL hasn't been resolved, so bitcoin can't scale.

At some point an alt will appear to take bitcoin's place, and Coinbase is just preparing all it's systems (trading, merchant payment systems etc) so it can smoothly deal with whatever new coin becomes the #1.

It is a sensible business decision.

[Red-Apple]

well GDAX has been an exchange and exchanges earn money from trading fees and also some from withdrawals fees. and also some of them do other things with the money they get from people's deposit like what banks do with the deposits.

and more coins means more trades and it means more profit. that is all i can see here.

[Spoetnik]

Coinbase intends on ratting out more of it's customers in the future like the KickAssTorrents owner.

What ? I am suppose to respect idiots who add ETH and not LTC ?

...

[olushakes]

Here is Brian Armstrong's blogpost:

https://blog.coinbase.com/completing-our-transition-to-becoming-a-digital-currency-company-not-just-a-bitcoin-company-6bcc44ca40ee#.weif1pwrm

Completing our transition to becoming a digital currency company (not just a Bitcoin company)

As we kick off 2017, I think it’s important for Coinbase and GDAX to continue supporting more crypto currencies. We are no longer just a Bitcoin company. We are a digital currency company.

This past year, we started the process by adding support for Ethereum. This was a major step. In 2017, you’ll see us continue that trend.

...It’s incredibly difficult to predict the future and the digital currency industry is no exception (take the above for what it is, pure speculation). Rapid change seems to be the only certainty. For this reason, you’ll see Coinbase and GDAX continue to support more crypto-currencies in 2017. As the most popular retail exchange (Coinbase) and institutional exchange in the U.S. (GDAX), we want to make it easy for people to use all types of digital currencies. Our goal going forward is to not play favorites, or support one digital currency more than any other, but simply to make it easy for customers to buy and sell whatever digital currencies they want. In this way, we can help support growth of the entire digital currency industry.

I dont know whether to be happy or sad for this guys because they are the one that know what they see before going this course of action. My own personal opinion is when you are good at one thing and you're known for that why not focus on getting better at that rather than looking to other areas which might in the long run affect your business because whether we like it or not conflicts of interest will set in and this could mean the end coin base after all.

[European Central Bank]

They are not "aiding speculation on shit"

uh, yes they are.

if a stock is listed on an exchange it's vetted and subject to regulation from the shop floor right up to the stock trade. insider trading, manipulation, stock supply, all of that stuff is lorded over and dealt with.

as far as i can tell so far crypto exchanges just add any old junk that enough people are excited about.

if i were running a place like coinbase there is no way i would've listed eth. there are too many unanswered questions and it's proven to be risky and unstable. it might have a bright future, it might fade away to nothing. that's no basis for a prestigious business. no doubt they would've added steemit or something had the price kept on rising.

crypto, including many aspects of bitcoin, is still sub penny stock in the way it's operated. operations with this much money shouldn't be helping it along.

[alyssa85]

What ? I am suppose to respect idiots who add ETH and not LTC ?

Litecoin has the same flaws bitcoin has: both the mining and trading are centralized behind the Great Firewall of China and subject to the whims of China's authoritarian govt.

I think Coinbase believes that bitcoin won't make it, and is looking for a bitcoin killer. Litecoin isn't it.

[dwgscale11]

Hate to say it, but Brian is definitely peddling scam coins and selling to kids. I dont like that.  BTC and LTC are OK in my book.
But, let me guess, Brian is gonna add Monero and sell more shit coins that have NO utility / NO use to degenerate gambling kids, because, well, it has volume from these same gamblers.
Pathetic.

[rokkyroad]

So ... Coinbase wants to jump into the shady altcoin scene now ... huh.

Their true colors showing. Just another bunch of vultures wanting to fleece the naive.

Coinbase = Cryptsy

[Shiroslullaby]

You guys are acting like they are going to start selling any shitcoin that gets copy-pasted from a Github repository.
I really don't see a problem with them selling the top five or ten coins on Coinmarketcap.
If you don't like it, don't use their service. Vote with your money.

[European Central Bank]

You guys are acting like they are going to start selling any shitcoin that gets copy-pasted from a Github repository.
I really don't see a problem with them selling the top five or ten coins on Coinmarketcap.
If you don't like it, don't use their service. Vote with your money.

Uh, what has been in the top ten in the past? auroracoin - huge premine, restricted supply, fatal collapse. steemit - huge premine, weird gaming of posts, nice collapse. xrp - huge premine, restricted and hoarded supply, centralised. eth - forktastic, dao disaster, pos weirdness incoming.

anyone with a functioning mind should realise that most alts ain't quite ready to be embraced and packaged for the public.

[Spoetnik]

You guys are acting like they are going to start selling any shitcoin that gets copy-pasted from a Github repository.
I really don't see a problem with them selling the top five or ten coins on Coinmarketcap.
If you don't like it, don't use their service. Vote with your money.

What difference does it make really ?
More effort out into shitcoins means they are better ?

[Spoetnik]

Monero should be the next coin to add to Coinbase. It is the only truly fungible coin that is decentralized. But honestly, I think coinbase needs to place a higher priority on website reliability and customer support rather than adding currencies  

I use to say the same thing about Cryptsy.. priorities  
And Monero ? I think what you meant to say was Litecoin.  

[xuan87]

well I think it is a good thing, I had used coinbase for a long time and I like to used it, the potential of crypto currencies is not only rely on bitcoin there are still many potential coin that can be as good as bitcoin in the future,as long as coinbase can keep up the quality and the security, i think it is fine to expand its business

[talkbitcoin]

Coinbase intends on ratting out more of it's customers in the future like the KickAssTorrents owner.
What ? I am suppose to respect idiots who add ETH and not LTC ?
...
[I M G]http://i65.tinypic.com/2j5avtl.jpg[/img]

that was pretty funny.
but i gotta say, someone who is idiot enough to use a third party for his bitcoin wallet instead of running a full node or at least use a desktop wallet ....
and not to mention someone who is idiot enough to use a freaking US based service as his wallet... i mean they record and report everything without any hesitation, even if they say they don't they are reporting everything at least to IRS.

deserves to go beside Jail nigga and be cell mates.

[thebatletbet]

base busness coinbase still use bitcoin
you can see, coinbase service, only online wallet and bitcoin exchanger
exchanger support bitcoin pair fiat money
if to digital cuency, base still cryptocoin, maybe can added altcoin to exchanger, same is kraken another bitcoin support altcoin exchanger

[LeGaulois]

Monero should be the next coin to add to Coinbase. It is the only truly fungible coin that is decentralized. But honestly, I think coinbase needs to place a higher priority on website reliability and customer support rather than adding currencies  

I use to say the same thing about Cryptsy.. priorities  
And Monero ? I think what you meant to say was Litecoin.  

No no i really mean Monero.   Li...li...li...litecoin ? Is that crypto still alive ?  
I am not an evil user of crypto, but recently decided to start to use another. And Monero is the one coming as a possible crypto to jump on for me

[olubams]

if coinbase really knows what is good for them, they should just focus on what they know how to do best and continue to improve on that and not just be envious of bitcoin and the exploit it has made and then think they can do same but I see that as a mere wishing which might not see the light of the day and whatever they created it still going to be an Alt...