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Coinbase, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency exchange, received its digital asset trading license from the Bermuda Monetary Authority, Bermuda Premier David Burt. tweeted Wednesday night Coinbase will open an offshore derivatives exchange there “as soon as next week,” according to a person close to the company, Fortune. reported.
This is the latest expansion for the giant exchange to grow internationally and expand its footprint, Coinbase shared in a series of posts. tweets.
Aside from the Bahamas, Coinbase has expanded into Abu Dhabi, Canada, Brazil, and Singapore. It is more than half of its eight-week international expansion unitthe company shared in a mail.
“As we have previously stated, our focus globally will be consistent with our focus in the United States,” according to the company.
These growth efforts point to the company’s attempt to expand its international business amid crackdowns by US regulators on the cryptocurrency industry.
Last month, Coinbase was issued a notice of wells from the US Securities and Exchange Commission for a Coinbase SEC Filinggovernment agency staff have “informed the Company that it made a ‘preliminary determination’ to recommend that the SEC bring an enforcement action against the Company alleging violations of federal securities law.”
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has been an outspoken advocate of creating crypto regulation guidelines, but has criticized US regulators for regulating through the app.
“Regulators should propose the rules, tell everyone the rules and we follow them,” Armstrong said during a Twitter Spaces in March. “Current laws are not clear and we would like more clarity.”
This week on web3
As the SEC charges Bittrex, there is little evidence that it is relaxing its regulatory stance
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Monday that it is charging cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex “for operating an unregistered national stock exchange, broker, and clearing agency,” among other things. In recent weeks, we have seen the SEC take on Coinbase and Tron, not to mention Binance being attacked by a different US government agency (the CFTC). Suffice it to say that after falling behind in the growth of the crypto market, government regulators are stepping up.
Despite regulatory concerns, the US is far from losing its risk crown (TC+)
Coinbase is open to leaving the United States in the wake of a regulatory dispute with the government. A change in tone of that magnitude could have an impact on where the future of technology is being built and the global venture market opportunity ahead. But Coinbase news does not exist in a vacuum.
Digital identities may be the best way to prove who you are online (TC+)
One of the biggest drivers of digital identity is being able to verify who you are and what you say is real amid the extreme (and somewhat scary) growth of artificial intelligence technology. While there is a lot of hype around owning your own digital identity, a lot of growth is needed to expand the industry and protect people.
Do you want financing for your NFT project? (TC+)
The NFT market may be down from its 2021 peak, but founders, builders, and collectors continue to flood the space. And many are looking for fresh capital. Even though NFTs are part of the web3 world, traditional trading mechanics are unavoidable for founders in the post-boom market.
Decentralized finance may be the answer to the problem of bank payment rails (TC+)
Aging payment rails is not a new problem for the US banking infrastructure, but the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank brought it into the spotlight, especially for payment companies that had their payment rails with the bank. Some fintech founders say decentralized finance rails built on the blockchain might be a better answer.
the last pod
For this week episode, jaquelyn interviewed Jesse Pollack, Base leader and head of protocols at Coinbase. Base is an Ethereum-focused Layer 2 blockchain launched by Coinbase in February of this year.
Pollak previously led all retail engineering at Coinbase, including building Coinbase, Coinbase Pro, and Coinbase Wallet. In a past life, Pollak started Clef, a 2FA mobile app, and was an engineer at BuzzFeed.
Several cryptocurrency companies, platforms, marketplaces, and infrastructure companies have committed to building on Base. Those planning to participate include Blockdaemon, Chainlink, Etherscan, Quicknode, Aave, Animoca Brands, Dune, Nansen, Magic Eden, Pyth, Rainbow Wallet, Ribbon Finance, The Graph, Wormhole, and Gelato, to name a few.
Of course, we talked a lot about Base and where it’s headed in the future, as well as how regulation might affect the blockchain and the timeline for its Mainnet launch; Pollak shared his goal for 2023.
We also dive into:
- Decentralizing Base
- Developers growing internationally
- Coinbase’s role in Base
- Developer Tips
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follow the money
- Bitcoin Financial Services Company unchained capital raised $60 million in a Series B
- karate combat raised $18 million in funding for crypto-mixed martial arts
- Open source blockchain platform EOS Network Foundation raised $45 million
- Yoz Laboratories raised $3.5 million to develop web3 notifications
- exchange financing raised $4.5 million to build a DeFi market making protocol
This list was compiled using information from Messari as well as TechCrunch’s own reporting.
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