Coinbase to Launch Spot Crypto Trading Services for International Clients
Coinbase, the biggest exchange based in the United States has now introduced Bitcoin and Ethereum trading services for USD Coin. The firm has been working on international expansion and the latest spot crypto trading services are part of the same.
Coinbase recently noted that international consumers hailing from outside of the United States will be able to access spot trading services. The new service went live in the last month of 2023.
Coinbase published an announcement on 13th December noting that investors will be able to trade Bitcoin and Ethereum in exchange for USDC stablecoin.
At the same time, the exchange trading platform also noted that the service will be expanded to retail consumers. At the same time, Coinbase also aims to expand services to include new tokens and features such as trading strategies and capital efficiency.
The firm noted that at present there is reluctance among token publishers and crypto investors to list new products on exchanges in the United States on account of in-process regulatory framework. The comment arrived at the time when Coinbase is engaged in a legal battle against SEC.
Coinbase Launched International Exchange in May
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought a lawsuit against Coinbase in June this year. The federal agency also launched lawsuits against Binance and Kraken among other exchanges.
However, the trading platform launched international exchange in May and started offering perpetual futures contracts for Bitcoin and Ethereum for institutional investors. The trading platform opened the same services to retail investors in September.
The exchange also started a ‘Stand with Crypto’ initiative in the pretext of upcoming presidential elections. The firm also hosted a debate from that invited three presidential candidates about future policies for blockchain industry.
Coinbase has forayed into the international markets and at the same time the firm has also launched new venture. The firm has recently launched Project Diamond that allows commercial firms to create digitized form of financial products such as debt using Base protocol.
The project has been launched by Coinbase Asset Management and it is a combo of Coinbase Prime custodial services, USDC stablecoin and layer-2 network Base. The Financial Services Regulatory Activity (FSRA) of Abu Dhabi has granted a license to the new project.
The project has started to issue short-term debt instrument, short-term discount note in USDC as demonstration for regulators.
Coinbase’s Entry in Tokenization Sector
Financial analysts retain that tokenization and Real-World Assets (RWAs) will ensure faster transaction speeds, cheaper administration overhead, and greater transparency. Asset management firm 21.co has projected that tokenized RWAs market growth to reach $10 trillion before the end of the ongoing decade.
As per Coinbase, Project Diamond will introduce disruptive features to the industry rather than creating tokenized version of already available investment products.
Shaun Martinak, the head of infrastructure at Coinbase Asset Management noted that tokenization is first important step. He further stated that this will transition towards digitally native tokens.
He further noted that rather than tokenizing off-chain cryptocurrencies, the digitally native debt-instrument will be hosted on the on-chain network. He explained that these products will have an automated lifecycle that can also leverage next-generation infrastructure.
Coinbase officials stated that at present less than 0.25% of total investment products are hosted on blockchains. Therefore, there is a potential for massive efficiency increase.
