A Leading U.S. cryptocurrency trading platform, Coinbase, will start supporting GBP in the upcoming weeks, said Coinbase UK CEO Zeeshan Feroz in an interview with newsbtc today. Currently, the platform allows users to deposit and withdraw sterling but converts the funds to EUR.
Why it is important
- Currently, the service cooperates with the Estonian bank LHV for the processing of transactions, which are exclusively in euro.
- Customers from the UK need to withdraw euro from the exchange using the SEPA payment system or by using mobile banking applications such as Revolut.
- In March, Coinbase began to work with the British bank Barclays. This collaboration made it possible to make transactions in pounds, including a Faster Payments scheme.
- The British pound accounts for about 6% of all bitcoin transactions and this is the fifth most popular fiat currency after the Japanese yen, dollar, euro, and Korean won for transactions with crypto. Feroz called the British market the largest in Europe.
With the addition of the pound to the site, Coinbase intends to attract not only new retail customers but also institutional investors.
“The biggest thing for me is rolling out access to faster payments for UK consumers. It’s been a huge challenge for us and I think it was a good result for us to get access to that. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be rolling that out for all customers. UK users will be able to deposit Sterling and withdraw Sterling out into their bank accounts using faster payments.” - said Feroz
Feroz also reported a great interest from investors in Coinbase Custody. A professional trading platform designed exclusively for institutional clients seeking to enter the digital currency market was presented earlier in May. Feroz has also confirmed previously announced plans by Coinbase to add the support for ERC-20 tokens. This option will be implemented through the recently acquired Paradex exchange, which was developed on the basis of the 0x protocol, and allows trading of hundreds of ERC-20 tokens. In addition, Coinbase will “continue to look into tokens that aren’t securities and add them in the future” along with the tokens that are registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Currently, Coinbase supports operations with Bitcoin (Bitcoin), Ethereum (ETH/USD), Litecoin (LTC/USD), and Bitcoin Cash (EXANTE: Bitcoin.Cash).
By Nadya Astam