By
Godfrey Benjamin
April 23rd, 2024
Post this latest funding round, Coinbase valuations have climbed above many of the top-ten cryptocurrencies except Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP.
On Tuesday, October 30, Coinbase President and COO Asiff Hirji announced that the company has raised an additional $300 million during the Series E funding round. As a result, the Coinbase valuation has now climbed over $8 billion which will help the company to accelerate faster adoption of digital assets.
The $300 million Series E equity funding round was led by Tiger Global Management. Other contributing participants are some popular names like Wellington Management, Y Combinator Continuity, Andreessen Horowitz, Polychain and other.
Coinbase said that these funds will be used for developing infrastructure for crypto-related services and products. Coinbase also plans to use these funds towards the company’s global expansion plans. In the blog post, Mr. Hirji also talked about expanding Coinbase’s suite of crypto offerings. Hirji said:
“We see hundreds of cryptocurrencies that could be added to our platform today and we will lay the groundwork to support thousands in the future.”
In the blog post, Hirji said that the funds shall be used for other “utility applications” for cryptocurrencies while referring to the addition of new products like “stablecoins”. Last week itself, Coinbase announced the addition of Circle’s USD Coin (USDC). The USDC is an ERC20 token based on the Ethereum blockchain. Circle’s USD Coin is tied to the U.S. Dollar in 1:1 ratio. Coinbase talked about the reason to support USD Coin and the merits that stablecoins bring to the system.
“The advantage of a blockchain-based digital dollar like USDC is easier to program with, to send quickly, to use in dApps, and to store locally than traditional bank account-based dollars. That’s why we think of it as an important step towards a more open financial system.”
Due to the heavy meltdown of the crypto market this year, Coinbase has been faced with dry volumes. This has forced the company to venture into new products and service creating alternate revenue streams. Apart from retail investors, the company is also focusing on products for institutional investors.
The company’s wholly-owned subsidiary Coinbase Custody recently secured a license from the NYDFS to provide custodial solutions for top six cryptocurrencies. A safe and secure custodial solution will provide an entry point for institutional investors in the crypto space.
Another revenue which Coinbase is currently exploring is listing of security tokens tied to conventional assets like real estate or private shares. The security tokens market which is still in the pre-mature stage has now started getting attention from global investors and companies.
It shows that Coinbase is consistent in its efforts to explore new possibilities in the crypto space.
“Coinbase is, and will remain, a crypto-first company. More than anything, we’re proud of the millions of people that have turned to Coinbase as their entry-point into crypto. We take that responsibility very seriously. We strive to be the easy, trusted way for anyone to get started with cryptocurrencies. We see Coinbase’s growth as validation that the ecosystem will only continue to grow in size, influence and impact — ultimately ushering in a more open financial system for the world,” Hirji said in a concluding note.