Bitcoin wallet provider Coinbase has made its services available for customers in the United Kingdom.
Coinbase, one of the world’s largest bitcoin exchanges, has announced the expansion of its services in the UK. The company enabled its customers in the UK to sell and buy cryptocurrency with the use of GBP as well as trade the digital currency on Coinbase Exchange.
The move complies with Coinbase’s strategy of expanding its services all over the globe and facilitating bitcoin payments in one of the world’s financial capitals.
San Francisco-based startup currently offers its services in 24 countries and includes more than 39,000 users around the world, which include such major companies as Dell, Bing, Bloomberg, Expedia and Overstock.
In January, Coinbase received $75 million in a financial round, which is yet the largest in the cryptocurrency industry. The investors included Andreessen Horowitz, the New York Stock Exchange, the financial company USAA, the Spanish bank BBVA and others.
The UK became the first place outside of the US where Coinbase launched its exchange services, which had earlier been available only in America. The company’s CEO Brian Armstrong told Business Insider that by the end of 2015 the firm is planning to launch its services in 40 countries.
“Our mission at Coinbase is to make payments more open and efficient around the world. Expanding to the UK is an important step towards that goal and will make it easier to access bitcoin in one of the financial capitals of the world,” Coinbase stated in its blog post.
Last month, the UK government revealed its plans to control UK bitcoin exchanges with the use of anti-money laundering regulation in order to support innovation and prevent the use of digital currency for criminal purposes.
The Treasury issued a document, which highlights the advantages and risks of using the cryptocurrency and discusses the options for government involvement in regulating virtual currency.
The UK government is also aimed at making London “the location of choice for digital currency and related tech firms”, although the city has already turned into the capital for fintech companies, exceeding New York and Silicon Valley in the number of workers.
Polina is an undergraduate student at Belarusian State Economic University (BSEU) where she is studying at the faculty of International Business Communication for a degree specializing in Intercultural Communication. In her spare time she enjoys drawing, music and travelling.