https://www.wsj.com/articles/can-the-biggest-u-s-bitcoin-exchange-win-over-wall-street-1527418800
Coinbase Inc. did more than any other company to bring U.S. retail investors into digital currencies—and left many feeling burned as bitcoin crashed, plunging about 60% since December.
Now, it’s looking for new customers.
Earlier this month, the San Francisco-based company unveiled plans for new services aimed at hedge funds and other big investors, such as brokering large-scale cryptocurrency trades. Coinbase is also opening a New York office to focus on Wall Street clients.
...
But the end of bitcoin mania raises questions about whether Coinbase’s success has peaked. Its exchange handled about $8 billion worth of digital-currency trades in April, down 78% from its record volume in December, according to CryptoCompare.
...
When Coinbase launched, bitcoin was little known outside a small circle of enthusiasts, many of them libertarians inspired by the idea of a currency outside government control.
Coinbase always aimed to take bitcoin mainstream, say current and former employees. A major goal was to make it easy to exchange so-called “fiat” currencies—dollars, euros and so on—for bitcoin. That wasn’t always straightforward: Early on, one popular way was for bitcoin aficionados to arrange meetings at Starbucks and swap the digital currency for cash.
Coinbase Inc. did more than any other company to bring U.S. retail investors into digital currencies—and left many feeling burned as bitcoin crashed, plunging about 60% since December.
Now, it’s looking for new customers.
Earlier this month, the San Francisco-based company unveiled plans for new services aimed at hedge funds and other big investors, such as brokering large-scale cryptocurrency trades. Coinbase is also opening a New York office to focus on Wall Street clients.
...
But the end of bitcoin mania raises questions about whether Coinbase’s success has peaked. Its exchange handled about $8 billion worth of digital-currency trades in April, down 78% from its record volume in December, according to CryptoCompare.
...
When Coinbase launched, bitcoin was little known outside a small circle of enthusiasts, many of them libertarians inspired by the idea of a currency outside government control.
Coinbase always aimed to take bitcoin mainstream, say current and former employees. A major goal was to make it easy to exchange so-called “fiat” currencies—dollars, euros and so on—for bitcoin. That wasn’t always straightforward: Early on, one popular way was for bitcoin aficionados to arrange meetings at Starbucks and swap the digital currency for cash.
