Will Coinbase be Americas Major Exchange?

[thegolden24]

With their new funding of 31 million, will Coinbase become the United States Major exchange? Will this start a frenzy among Americans to join the bitcoin craze? How will it effect the speculated value of bitcoin? Will other exchanges emerge and compete? Will more day traders emerge and push up the trading volume? Can this benefit the legitimization of bitcoin? All these questions are swimming through my mind

[jones31]

With their new funding of 31 million, will Coinbase become the United States Major exchange? Will this start a frenzy among Americans to join the bitcoin craze? How will it effect the speculated value of bitcoin? Will other exchanges emerge and compete? Will more day traders emerge and push up the trading volume? Can this benefit the legitimization of bitcoin? All these questions are swimming through my mind

Looking at the current USA major exchanges , how it's that a hard task?

[thegolden24]

Well Coinbase is convient for small amounts but they put limits on the amount of btc you can buy/sell and doesn't really have a trading platform currently(maybe they'll make one). I think the small amount will attract many people who don't have extra cash to make investments but wish to take a gamble that the price of btc will appreciate over time. Also could aid in the expansion of the acceptance of btc in business around the US.

[Melbustus]

I can't think of much better to do with a fresh $25M injection than getting full money-transmission licenses in most US states, complete with the surety bond coverage. The regs on that stuff (ie, the time and expense to get proper licensing) is why there's no major US exchange so far.

[thegolden24]

I can't think of much better to do with a fresh $25M injection than getting full money-transmission licenses in most US states, complete with the surety bond coverage. The regs on that stuff (ie, the time and expense to get proper licensing) is why there's no major US exchange so far.

Thats very true. I believe you have to be licensed in every state you do business in but I think some states are exempt(not many I wanna say 3)

[Melbustus]

I can't think of much better to do with a fresh $25M injection than getting full money-transmission licenses in most US states, complete with the surety bond coverage. The regs on that stuff (ie, the time and expense to get proper licensing) is why there's no major US exchange so far.

Thats very true. I believe you have to be licensed in every state you do business in but I think some states are exempt(not many I wanna say 3)

Yeah, I think there are a few states that don't require licenses. And then for the rest, there's a whole lot of variety as to exactly what you need to get a license for, reporting requirements, bond coverage, etc. It's an expensive mess to navigate.

[thegolden24]

Do you think they will incorporate a trading platform? I would much rather do my trading within the US than to send wire transfers to foriegn lands.

[accord01]

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=341188.msg3903735#msg3903735

coinbase is not an exchange.  They are a shady version of paypal in the bitcoin community.

[thegolden24]

They accept wire transfers from your bank then allow you to buy/sell, I thought that's what an exchange is. They also act as a "secure" wallet and a kind of "paypal" like you said for merchants.

[Desensitizer]

I think that its a distinct possibility. It is true that they are not an exchange now, but there is no real strong competition in the United State in terms of other exchanges and with the $31 million they have a lot of funds with which to expand their current services. I would not put becoming a full fledged exchange by 2014 past them.

[HappyScamp]

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=341188.msg3903735#msg3903735

coinbase is not an exchange.  They are a shady version of paypal in the bitcoin community.

Agree.  There is so much bad rap about them out there that they would have a hard time clearing their name.

[Carlton Banks]

No.

Especially not when they're so fond of cancelling peoples orders, just when they happen to buy in at a good price.

[thegolden24]

Well I have no prior experience with Coinbase personally so its good to hear your guys opinion on it. I've only used Bitinstant(when it was available) and Bitstamp. Even though this time they are taking a long time to credit my deposit(7 business days) hopefully they are just slowed down due to more users making accounts and depositing.

[oliversl]

It only works with US banks, so, mtgox should be bigger.

[pa]

I have had good experiences with Coinbase and do not regard it as shady in any way. They have growing pains and need to hire more support staff. That is not the same as being shady.

[other_side]

Even though this time they are taking a long time to credit my deposit (7 business days) hopefully they are just slowed down due to more users making accounts and depositing.

Now they have access to your bank account.

[beetcoin]

i don't know much about the exchanges, but i like their design and style the most. the staff is public and the design on their site is much, much, much better than any other site i've seen. it's basic and to the point.

[thegolden24]

Even though this time they are taking a long time to credit my deposit (7 business days) hopefully they are just slowed down due to more users making accounts and depositing.

Now they have access to your bank account.

So does the power company. And the water company. Etc etc etc.

Yeah exactly I'm not too worried about them having my account number. I just don't want to become one of those people who scorns a certain exchange because they had a bad experience even though the majority have better experiences.

[bitpop]

They arent an exchange per se

[halfawake]

I wouldn't be surprised if they do.  I've seen a lot of people give them flack on this forum, but I had a good experience with personally.  Though I only bought once, so I don't have a ton of Coinbase experience.  But from what I've been able to tell, it's certainly the easiest way to buy bitcoins in the United States right now, though certainly not the quickest.

And I think accord01 is right - you can buy bitcoins from Coinbase, but they aren't really an exchange like btc-e or bitstamp.  I do like Coinbase, personally, but they're a fairly expensive way to buy bitcoins because of their 1% fees compared to the exchanges.  I didn't mind that back when the price was $100, but now that it's over $900, if I end up buying more, I'll probably be buying them from btc-e.