Author
Tatsiana Yablonskaya
Taking strong interest in blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and IoT, Tatsiana Yablonskaya got deep understanding of the emerging techs believing in their potential to drive the future.
Coinbase starts entering Asian market with one of the world’s financial capitals – Singapore.
“About a year ago we made a decision to offer bitcoin services to as many countries in the world as possible”, says Brian Armstrong, CEO and co-founder of Coinbase. And the company keeps its word. This week was marked by promotion of Coinbase’s service to Canada and Singapore.
Coinbase is among the world’s largest bitcoin companies. It’s based in San-Francisco and by now works with 28 countries. The company sets ambitious goal to be in 40 countries by the end of 2015. Some more figures to prove the good standing in bitcoin market:
- 3.9 million – approximate number of consumer wallets owned by Coinbase;
- 40,000 merchants use its payment mechanism;
- 7,000 software developers use its platform for creation of new products;
- $107 million was received from 21 investors during 4 funding rounds.
The launch of transfer service in Singapore is scheduled for today and it will enable customers to exchange Singapore dollars for bitcoin. Remarkably Singapore is the first destination in Asia which is a milestone for Coinbase. David Farmer, international expansion lead, says: “Expanding to places like North America and Europe has been a solid foundation for us to fulfill that mission, but this move into Asia is especially exciting for us, as it marks the first time that Coinbase has been able to fully service consumers in this massive market.”
Singapore is an important point in Coinbase’s business plan as it’s one of the financial capitals of the world. More than 15,000 people in the country own Coinbase wallets. Thus promoting payment services there will give customers a possibility to operate in bitcoin market as simple and safe as possible.
Armstrong admits that bitcoin service is not considered a regulated activity in Singapore. Comparing to traditional currencies bitcoin transactions take place between two persons with no need of intermediary. There is no central bank or other authority that controls the process. The price varies according to current demand. Yesterday it made up $229.35, up 0.6% on the day.
Coinbase’s operation in Canada became possible due to partnership with Canadian payment processor Vogogo which allowed customers in Canada to purchase and sell the digital currency with the use of Canadian dollars. Prior to Canada bitcoin services provided by the company were available only in the United States and some European countries.
Coinbase definitely doesn’t rest on its laurels and supports constant development. Thus it made possible for users in the UK and Spain to use 3D Secure enabled credit and debit cards in order to buy bitcoin. These cards do not require a customer to deposit funds into their account through a bank transfer which means customers can instantly receive bitcoin transactions.
In the beginning of summer Coinbase launched its new service, called Instant Exchange, enabling users to send and receive immediate bitcoin payments. One of the main benefits of the payment tool is that it’s not exposed to the fluctuations of cryptocurrency exchange rate.