In December 2018 Coinbase launched a holiday-induced program known as “12 Days of (Crypto), an apparent nod to the traditional Christmas Carol, “The 12 Days of Christmas”.
On that account, we culminated this handy list of “new features, support for cryptocurrencies and many other useful insights” announced by Coinbase so you don’t miss out the fresh perspective of cryptos.
Day 1:
WeGift e-cards
Coinbase has partnered with London-based gift card company called WeGift which offers to purchase various retail goods and services by using crypto assets.
To use this service visit WeGift and simply connect your Coinbase wallet and voila you can instantly spend crypto on e-gift cards.
As per the information mentioned on the WeGift website, gift cards purchased via cryptocurrencies can be used in over 120 retail outlets that accept WeGift. These retailers include brands like Uber, Nike, Tesco, Carrefour, Google Play and M&S.
The USP of making purchases through these e-gift cards is that customers get the benefit of 0 withdrawal fees and they can also enjoy bonuses of up to 10% on select vendors, making it silky smooth to use crypto. Now with just a few clicks, you can conveniently spend your balance on e-gift cards for those newly launched Nike shoes or the latest furniture collection, the choice is entirely yours.
Currently, this service is available only in the UK, the Netherlands, Italy, and Spain.
Day 2:
Zcash Donation To Venezuelan Families
Coinbase donated $10,000 Zcash (ZEC) in collaboration with GiveCrypto.org, a non-profit organization to help 50 distressed families in Venezuela.
GiveCrypto.org is known to connect to those parts of the world that have poor access to cross-border payment systems. In the Coinbase blog post, it was noted that the $10,000 Zcash will be distributed through GiveCrypto.org’s project which targets Santa Elena de Uairen, Venezuela.
Apart from the $10,000, the charity firm will also add $1USD to each of the over 50 families in Santa Elena for 3 months on a daily basis. This means families can get to purchase food and basic necessities. On querying why cryptos were chosen as a mean of donation, the Coinbase team noted that countries like Venezuela – who’s been hit with a financial crisis – don’t always have access to reliable financial institutions. Hence, instead of traditional cash systems, donations in cryptocurrencies provide stable financial support.
Day 3:
Cryptocurrency, The Future of Finance Video
In this video, Coinbase explains the power and flaws of money. It elaborates on its vision of cryptocurrency as a means of economic freedom and democratization.
Day 4:
Coinbase Customizable Watchlist
Coinbase wants to create a better cryptocurrency trading experience for its users with the new watchlist feature.
This new feature allows users to track a cryptocurrency in their custom watchlist by simply clicking on the star next to the cryptocurrency dashboard.
The managing and organizing of one’s dashboard will become an increasingly important activity as Coinbase starts adding new coins on the exchange.
To make this feature more user-friendly, Coinbase lets users choose which asset information they want to view first. It was acknowledged in the Coinbase blog:
Similarly, to remove an asset from the watchlist the users will unstar the coin.
Furthermore, users will be able to add any asset to the watchlist, despite Coinbase listing status. As long as the asset is available on the informational price page, it can be added to the watchlist.
Additionally, Coinbase has also introduced new price charts which are helpful for increased precision.
It has even added an industry news article feed for the users and is currently working on a price summary widget for the dashboard.
The exchange further informed that for the past six months it is working on several improvements in the customers’ logged-in experience.
Day 5:
Coinbase U.S. Customers Get Free Instant PayPal Withdrawals
The introduction of free PayPal withdrawals for various fiat currencies by Coinbase was a confident move.
According to a blog post by Allen Osgood, the project manager at Coinbase, before this decision, U.S. customers needed either an ACH or Fedwire account to withdraw fiat (USD) from their Coinbase account. Unfortunately, using such traditional financial networks meant that withdrawals can take up to two business days.
However, now that Coinbase has roped in PayPal support, U.S. customers can withdraw Coinbase balances straight away to PayPal without the obligation to pay a 1.49% withdrawal fee (which was mandatory to pay if they were sending money to a U.S. bank account)
In order to enable this new service:
- Sign in to Coinbase and link your PayPal account to your Coinbase account
- Select your PayPal account as a payment option when withdrawing your cash balance to move your funds instantly
At present, the option for charge free withdrawals is availed by a handful of geographies like the US, UK, EU, and Canada. Coinbase says that it has plans to roll out this service to other countries in 2019.
Going forward, Coinbase is working religiously to make the user experience more personable.
Day 6:
Bitcoin Donation For Syrian Refugees
Coinbase is committed to the humanitarian cause and is a staunch supporter of solving income problems with digital currencies.
Hence, the US-based cryptocurrency exchange gifted $10,000 in BTC to GiveCrypto.com for a project that provides a basic income to over 150 Syrian refugees living in Greece.
This donation will allow GiveCrypto.org and partner Sempo to expand this goodwill model which has earlier supported 5 Syrian families in Beirut and 15 Yazidi families in Kurdistan in 2018.
While many organizations are helping the refugee communities, still they might lack the proper access to financial institutions where donations can be received and stored.
And even if they have the access, fees eat up a portion of the cash aid received by the community.
Sempo works with Givecrypto.org to establish local vendor relationships with those who are willing to accept cryptocurrency as payments for good or exchange cash for crypto.
The dealer is paid through a program recipient’s wallet.
The dealer can request to exchange the cryptocurrency for fiat.
With this kind of system, cryptocurrency acts as a bridge, ensuring recipients can use their donations quickly.
Day 7:
Coinbase Explains Users on USDC
Coinbase and Circle, two of the largest cryptocurrency companies came together for a joint-venture known as the “CENTRE Consortium” in October 2018. This working together both businesses aims to further advance the adoption of cryptocurrencies backed by actual government currencies like the U.S. dollar.
Coinbase announced support for its first-ever stablecoin, the USDC. A stablecoin like USDC is backed by U.S. dollar holding at a 1:1 ratio, meaning it is 100% collateralized.
At present Coinbase customers outside the state of New York will be able to buy, sell, send and receive the USD Coin through the company’s website and its iOS and Android apps. The company plans to introduce the coin to customers in different regions in coming times.
The advantage of a blockchain-based digital dollar like USDC according to Coinbase is,
Day 8:
Enables Direct Cryptocurrency Conversions
Coinbase introduced a new feature called “Convert” which allows users to convert their cryptocurrencies directly into other cryptocurrencies.
As a crypto-first company Coinbase stated, “Initially, customers can convert between Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Litecoin (LTC), 0x (ZRX) or Bitcoin Cash (BCH).”
The new feature is presently available in the United States on Coinbase.com and in Coinbase’s Android and iOS apps. The best thing what this feature offers is that it is cheaper and quicker performing two separate transactions (i.e., selling first the cryptocurrency to earn fiat money and then using fiat money to buy cryptocurrency)
“With a Digital Currency Conversion, you can accomplish in a single transaction what would otherwise require two separate transactions. For example, you could directly convert Bitcoin to Ethereum (a Digital Currency Conversion), or you could sell Bitcoin and then purchase Ethereum (a Digital Currency Sale followed by a Digital Currency Purchase). Coinbase charges a Spread of one percent (1.00%) for Digital Currency Conversions. However, the actual Spread may be higher or lower due to market fluctuations in the price of Digital Currencies on Coinbase Pro between the time we quote a price and the time when the order executes. We do not charge a separate Coinbase Fee for Digital Currency Conversions.“
The company plans to gradually roll out this feature for all 34 countries where Coinbase offers support for native payments.
Day 9:
Coinbase Pro Lists four ERC20 Tokens
Earlier last year Coinbase announced that it would support many ERC20 tokens to its platform.
Along these lines, Coinbase Pro recently announced that it will be listing four new Ethereum tokens to its Coinbase platform.
The tokens are Dai (DAI), Golem (GNT), Maker (MKR) and Zilliqa (ZIL). Although Golem is not an ERC20 token it is Ethereum based.
The above tokens are available to customers of Coinbase Pro but in select jurisdictions.
Dai and Golem will be available for Coinbase Pro users in the UK, the EU, Canada, Australia, and Singapore.
US users (except New York) can also trade these coins.
Maker and Zilliqa will not be available in the US but will be available to trade in Singapore, Australia, Canada, the EU, and the UK market.
Coinbase has already launched 0x (ZRX) and Basic Attention Token (BAT) and even added a new stablecoin USDC. It has also supported Civic (CVC), Decentraland (MANA), districtox (DN) and Loom Network (LOOM) on its platform.
According to Coinbase blog post which announced new listing says:
For example, Golem connects users to a distributed compute farm which cannot be accessed via Coinbase.
As a result, users who want to participate in the distinctive functionalities of these coins need to move them to a local wallet.
Coinbase can basically facilitate only their buying, selling and storing.
The understanding of Coinbase to add ERC20 tokens first is because they are relatively simple for them as these assets can be easily integrated into their existing infrastructure.
Day 10:
Launch of Coinbase Earn
Coinbase Announced A New Service called Coinbase Earn to educate its users about crypto. Coinbase is an educational platform where users can earn cryptocurrencies while learning about them.
As of now, Coinbase Earn is launched in an invite-only mode with ZRX, the native token of 0x protocol. Users can visit Coinbase’s ZRX page to complete educational tasks like video lessons and quizzes to earn some ZRX.
Day 11:
Coinbase Enters Six New European Markets
Coinbase expanded its global footprint by rolling out its platform to six new countries in Europe.
Coinbase will now be available in the following European regions:
- Andorra
- Iceland
- Isle of Man
- Lithuania
- Gibraltar and
- Guernsey
Users from these newly added jurisdictions will have full access to coinbase.com and its Android and iOS apps.
In future, Coinbase Pro and Coinbase Prime will also be extended in the regions.
Coinbase plans to keep adding new assets as it rapidly spreads out into new markets in 2019 to meet the growing customer demand.
Day 12:
Day of Conclusion
On day 12 of 12 days of the blockchain, gifts to support crypto and blockchain education were given.
The day 12 concluded with more donations, this time $25,000 worth of Bitcoin to help more than 60 survivors of domestic violence on their path to independence and safety.
The donation supports FreeFrom, a non-profit that helps domestic abuse survivors achieve financial stability, reducing the chances they return to abusive homes.
According to Sonia Passie, CEO of FreeFrom, 98% of domestic abuse also involves financial abuse, in which abusers control access to bank accounts and cash. Because of this, FreeFrom typically couldn’t provide cash assistance until after someone has already left their abuser. In Coinbase, they believe that cryptocurrency can change this behavior.
With crypto, FreeFrom can better provide financial support to survivors still stuck in the cycle of active domestic abuse. Crypto isn’t just money for survivors, it’s money that only they can control with easy draw-down options and discreet access. For this population, the security of cryptocurrency literally could be lifesaving.
Coinbase advocates blockchain for everyone. It thus believes an open financial system requires connecting talented people with technical training.
Borders, physical or economic, should never limit someone’s ability to shape the foundation of blockchain technology. The announcement of educational funding by Coinbase is an attempt to make the future of blockchain more inclusive.
The Coinbase funding supports scholarships to cover the cost of completing Udacity’s Blockchain Developer Nanodegree program. These scholarships will go to members of three organizations that are working to diversify technology, including:
- Code to Inspire, Afghanistan’s first coding school for women;
- Re:Coded, an organization that provides mentorship and technical training to young people living in conflict zones in the Middle East, and
- Techqueria, a networking organization for Latinx professionals in tech.
With that, they hope that the future of blockchain will be brighter if people across the globe take part in building it.