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Raise when you don't need it. VCs are desperate to part with cash ("use it or lose it"), and Coinbase probably has the best chance (after perhaps Stripe and Bra

Raise when you don't need it. VCs are desperate to part with cash ("use it or lose it"), and Coinbase probably has the best chance (after perhaps Stripe and Braintree) of becoming the de facto home for the crypto payment/trading industry.

BlackjackCF 9y ago
Makes sense, but I don't love how they handled the whole Bitcoin split.
- jshevek 9y ago
  My agreement with this sentiment was stronger before they announced their commitment to accommodate BCC, at least for withdrawal.
tehlike 9y ago
This. When their hands are so strong, they probably got a pretty favorable terms.
- popol12 9y ago
  You mean their arm.
  - erdle 9y ago
    Poker term
dpflan 9y ago
Having cash sounds great, but does this kind of cash create a crutch? $100M seems like a large number for CB, but I don't know enough about its business to understand how far that money goes. Is CB growing very quickly and in what ways? Is CB making money on their own? In order to become the de facto home for crypto payment/trading, what does that mean? Does it mean they need to help make the adoption / use of cryptocurrencies easier and more widespread? I am curious as to how this money gets spent.
- wastedhours 9y ago
  Also, not sure what their position is on ringfencing deposits, but could also be an in-house credit line for immediate liquidity? Yep - I'd say they need to push into tech to allow mainstream adoption. Being the backend layer to convert crypto to real funds for businesses or payment processors. Talent, partnerships, probably regulatory issues etc...
arikr 9y ago
Not sure why so many people downvoted you, this is likely their thought process.
zjaffee 9y ago
Even so, a 1.6 billion dollar valuation of coinbase is certainly very high. Assuming that over the course of the long term they are comparable to something like intercontinental exchange (the owner of NYSE/EURONEXT, and controller of the clearing house for 50% of the worlds oil futures/derivative products). The total market cap of coins traded on their platform would need to be magnitudes larger to justify this valuation unless they can somehow either continue to justify their high fees amidst competition, or they would need to totally monopolize all future cryptocurrency banking, something that could certainly involve large amounts of competition in the future as well.
- base698 9y ago
  By deduction they make about a million USD in fees a day. A startup making real cash along with huge growth potential. Seems valid.
joering2 9y ago
Why on earth would it become a "home for crypto". The only reason I use them is because Kraken & Co requires full SSN to buy or sell; Coinbase doesn't. There is no network effect here. I don't buy/sell/keep with Coinbase because my friends or family does. The moment I found some other system that doesn't require my full SSN to be revealed, Im moving on as well.

BlackjackCF 9y ago

Makes sense, but I don't love how they handled the whole Bitcoin split.

jshevek 9y ago
My agreement with this sentiment was stronger before they announced their commitment to accommodate BCC, at least for withdrawal.

tehlike 9y ago

This. When their hands are so strong, they probably got a pretty favorable terms.

popol12 9y ago
You mean their arm.
- erdle 9y ago
  Poker term

dpflan 9y ago

Having cash sounds great, but does this kind of cash create a crutch? $100M seems like a large number for CB, but I don't know enough about its business to understand how far that money goes. Is CB growing very quickly and in what ways? Is CB making money on their own? In order to become the de facto home for crypto payment/trading, what does that mean? Does it mean they need to help make the adoption / use of cryptocurrencies easier and more widespread? I am curious as to how this money gets spent.

wastedhours 9y ago
Also, not sure what their position is on ringfencing deposits, but could also be an in-house credit line for immediate liquidity? Yep - I'd say they need to push into tech to allow mainstream adoption. Being the backend layer to convert crypto to real funds for businesses or payment processors. Talent, partnerships, probably regulatory issues etc...

arikr 9y ago

Not sure why so many people downvoted you, this is likely their thought process.

zjaffee 9y ago

Even so, a 1.6 billion dollar valuation of coinbase is certainly very high. Assuming that over the course of the long term they are comparable to something like intercontinental exchange (the owner of NYSE/EURONEXT, and controller of the clearing house for 50% of the worlds oil futures/derivative products). The total market cap of coins traded on their platform would need to be magnitudes larger to justify this valuation unless they can somehow either continue to justify their high fees amidst competition, or they would need to totally monopolize all future cryptocurrency banking, something that could certainly involve large amounts of competition in the future as well.

base698 9y ago
By deduction they make about a million USD in fees a day. A startup making real cash along with huge growth potential. Seems valid.

joering2 9y ago

Why on earth would it become a "home for crypto". The only reason I use them is because Kraken & Co requires full SSN to buy or sell; Coinbase doesn't. There is no network effect here. I don't buy/sell/keep with Coinbase because my friends or family does. The moment I found some other system that doesn't require my full SSN to be revealed, Im moving on as well.