Users within the U.S can start applying through the Coinbase app or the web and the first set of customers will be approved this winter. Customers that are approved can then proceed to spending with the Virtual card instantly while waiting for the physical card which will be mailed within two weeks.

The blog post also noted that the cards would be issued free but spending with the card will invite a standard fee which will be shared during sign-up.

The introduction of Coinbase Card was a significant milestone in our efforts to create mainstream adoption of crypto as a genuine utility. Today’s announcement is another step forward in the real-world applications of cryptocurrency as it enables more options for Coinbase customers in the US to utilize their holdings. We will continue to build upon our offerings to create the most seamless and useful ways to manage crypto investing and spending for our customers.

The card would be open to customers in over 30 countries which includes the U.K and across Europe but the rewards of 4% back to the customers will only kick off in the U.S and then later extend to other parts of the globe.

Card holders can spend directly from their accounts on the Coinbase platform without moving funds to their local bank accounts. For the ATM withdrawal, Cryptocurrencies are converted to the U.S dollars before completing purchase.

The 4% cash bank in Crypto rewards will be open initially to the U.S card holders, customers will get the cash back in Stellar Lumens (XLM) or a 1% back in Bitcoin(BTC).

The card can be managed from the Coinbase app and they can choose to settle payments in stablecoins like USD coin or other specific Cryptocurrencies, all done within the app with the click of a button.

WBTC is a synthetic version of Bitcoin that operates in the Ethereum blockchain. They are over 105,132 WBTC in existence which amounts to $1.2 billion. Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) had started creating awareness and gaining some spotlight around June, when Bitcoiners decided to work on Ethereum-based decentralized finance (Defi) protocols which involved mostly non-custodial lending and decentralized exchange protocols. Wrapped Bitcoin was created by BitGo, Ren and Kyber and is currently the most popular synthetic version of Bitcoin with over 73% of the total market share, Dune Analytics reported.

Coinbase Pro plans on launching in a four step approach which are transfers, post-only, limits and full trading. This would enable them to fill it’s order books in order to ensure there is enough funds for a smooth launch. As earlier noted, the exchange plans to monitor the progress and interest users show towards the listing, so they would only proceed to the next stage if the market appears “healthy and orderly “.

When speaking regarding  listing WBTC to the main exchange platform Coinbase, the blog post stated. “We will make a separate announcement if and when this support is added,” .

Merchants had to initially move their cryptocurrency payments from the commerce platform to the exchange section and then convert them to whatever they desired including fiat.

Now, merchants can easily convert their cryptocurrency to fiat or stablecoins by simply connecting their coinbase.com accounts with the Coinbase Commerce and easily convert USD, EUR, GBP, and USDC with a 1% fee charged from the user.

The ability for merchants with accounts on Coinbase Pro and Coinbase Prime for Conversions and withdrawals are currently being implemented and will come soon. Coinbase has stated that they always work with their customers or users in mind and will continue building and developing in the service they render.

At Coinbase, our mission is to create an open financial system for the world. One of the ways we will achieve this is by helping connect as many participants in the cryptoeconomy as possible. We’re always listening to our merchants and building the best products to meet their needs.

Earlier on this year, Coinbase had released custom branding for all merchants, easier refund support, DAI support and a Spanish-language support.

TVL hits $9 billion in DeFi 

Decentralized Finance has hit another significant stage in terms of Total Value Locked (TVL). The DeFi total value locked hits $9.02 billion as DeFi based projects continue to hit all time highs and gain values in the market. Among these tokens are YFI tokens which had surged over 80% a few weeks back and even hitting an All Time High (ATH) of $38,869 according to Coingecko data. Sushi was up 126% within 24 hour few weeks back before the issues arose. 

Aave currently Ianthe largest DeFi project with $1.7 billion locked, followed by Maker DAO with $1.43 billion, Balancer at $1.36 billion and Curve at $1.3 billion.

Some investors believe Decentralized Exchanges (Dex) and Decentralized Finance (DeFi) are the next big thing and that Centralized exchanges will become obsolete. We can only hope that they all Co-exist since they all have a part to play in gaining mass stepping to the Crypto world. 

The integration of a domain name feature in Coinbase Wallet will eliminate the need of using cryptographic addresses and too complex to read addresses. Coinbase customers can easily send payments to another customer by simply typing a .crypto domain instead of those long and complex addresses.

Other Human Readable Domain

Houbi exchange has also announced a similar feature in June. Earlier this year, JRNY Crypto reported that Tezos plans on introducing domain names. Gemini exchange, a US exchange owned by the Winklevoss Twins also announced custody for crypto domains on July 23.

The official Coinbase blog post states that customers in the stipulated regions with at least 1$ worth of Dai in their Coinbase accounts will automatically receive rewards on a daily basis with the initial payments distributed within 5 business days. 

Customers can choose to withdraw these daily rewards anytime they want even if they choose to do so immediately they receive the rewards. Dai held on exchange can also be withdrawn at any point in time wince funds are still under the control of the owners. 

For users who wish to start earning Dai rewards, they can simply buy Dai on Coinbase or send it from an external wallet to their Coinbase wallet, and they start earning automatically. 

“The idea behind the launchpad is to make the process of becoming an eth2 validator as easy as possible, without compromising on security and education”- Ethereum Foundation

The launchpad will allow users to stake Ethereum to confirm transactions on the ETH 2.0 testnet, Medalla. Stakers will do the same on the Mainnet when it will be launched later this year or early next year. 

The foundation pointed out that Validators will need to understand how to store and safeguard private keys because unlike their parties stakers like Coinbase, a Validator gets to generate the keys offline themselves and the keys are to be stored properly. If access to these details is lost for some reason, then access to funds is also lost. The launchpad includes a disclaimer just to make sure you clearly understand what you’re getting into as a Validator. You also get to sign a form that indicates that you clearly understand that you will have to manage your own keys and any amount of Ethereum staked cannot be moved by a Validator for a particular amount of time. 

ALGO got listed on Coinbase Pro last August and recently announced that it will start supporting EUR and GBP trading on July 21. ALGO is also supported by Coinbase Custody for storage and staking. 

“One of the most common requests we hear from customers is to be able to buy and sell more cryptocurrencies on Coinbase. We announced a new process for listing assets, designed in part to accelerate the addition of more cryptocurrencies. We are also investing in new tools to help people understand and explore cryptocurrencies.”

Algorand is a project with goals of improving decentralisation, scalability and security, they aim at solving some of the technical barriers existing in blockchain technology. 

It was launched in June 2019 and is founded by Silvio Micali. Algorand will help provide foundation for projects both new and existing ones to operate globally in the decentralized economy. 

Algorand price is up 30% after the announcement, it spiked up to about 0.38 today before retracing down to 0.34 on cmc 

The exchange would need the approval of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), if this was to happen, then Coinbase would have gained victory over other platforms competing for the recognition and endorsement from SEC.

The source of this news is said to have requested anonymity because the listing preparations are confidential. Coinbase spokesperson also stated that the company does not comment on rumors or speculative news. The source however stated that the listing could happen this year or early next year and that the plans are subject to change since the exchange is yet to announce it’s plan on going public. The SEC has also refused to comment on this matter. 

Coinbase

The exchange was founded in 2012 by Brian Armstrong and today is one of the well known and top traded cryptocurrency exchanges in the US and other parts of the world. They have an estimated 35 million customers who trade various assets on the exchange platform. 

The exchange raised over $8 billion back in 2018 in a private fundraising and possibly plans on going public via a direct listing instead of a Traditional Initial Public Listing (IPO)

What to Expect 

The announcement presents a lot of benefits for ADA holders and investors through this partnership. 

“This custody agreement allows us to offer the same secure storage solutions that can be found in traditional finance to ADA holders, without sacrificing what makes Proof of Stake blockchains special – being able to participate in the network”-  stated the tweet. 

The Custody partnership also helps ADA to be able to store their coins on the Coinbase “Custodys institutional-grade, battle-tested cold storage” wallet while also maintaining control over the ability to delegate stakes. 

This means that ADA holders get to store their coins on the exchange and still stake with Coinbase Custody without having to worry about the security of the coin. 

Whether or not this could lead to a potential listing for the ADA, we will find out not too long anymore but it’s only fair to assume it would. 

Staking

This is simply the act of locking cryptocurrencies in order to receive rewards for helping secure the network and create blocks on the proof-of-stake consensus mechanism. The larger the amount of coin or token locked, the larger the reward. 

Recently on Cardano 

Cardano is setting up for it’s Shelly Network upgrade and has also launched the Daedalus wallet for Shelly. The blockchain summit just concluded.