“U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Inc has reached a $100 million settlement with New York’s Department of Financial Services (DFS), the exchange and the regulator said in statements on Wednesday. The settlement, which includes a $50 million penalty, caps the regulator’s investigation into the firm’s compliance with requirements to prevent money laundering. The department found Coinbase treated its onboarding requirements for customers as a “simple check-the-box” and had not done sufficient background checks, the regulator said.”

“Coinbase, the largest U.S. based crypto exchange, said it would be reducing its workforce by 18%, laying off approximately 1,100 employees after volatile crypto markets have lost more than $2 trillion in value since 2021. In a Tuesday morning blog post, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced the decision and warned of a recession and a looming crypto winter. “We appear to be entering a recession after a 10+ year economic boom. A recession could lead to another crypto winter, and could last for an extended period,” Armstrong wrote. “In past crypto winters, trading revenue (our largest revenue source) has declined significantly. While it’s hard to predict the economy or the markets, we always plan for the worst so we can operate the business through any environment.” Armstrong also appeared to take responsibility for business mistakes that led to such massive layoffs at his company.”

“The cryptoeconomy is still in its early stages, but it is clear that every year more and more economic activity will take place on crypto rails. Coinbase is the trusted bridge to the cryptoeconomy today, but we need to become the place people also go to actually participate in the cryptoeconomy. We’re seeing crypto quickly mature from its initial use case of trading bitcoin to the trading of thousands of new assets, and the adoption of new use cases like Decentralized Finance (DeFi), NFTs, smart contracts, Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), and more. Much of this is relatively new and there are challenges to using it, but I see it as the future of where this industry is going. In the same way we helped people access Bitcoin for the first time in a trusted, easy way — we need to do the same for the decentralized cryptoeconomy.”

“Coinbase has established a grip in the cryptocurrency space, remaining one of the attractive destinations for investors intending to take part in the digital currency space. Consequently, the exchange is expected to continue recording an influx of more users.   According to data analyzed by Finbold , Coinbase verified users are projected to hit 72.8 million by the end of 2021. The projection is based on an analysis of the exchange’s verified user growth rate over the last three years and several fundamental factors that will be mentioned later in our article.”

“You can now use your Coinbase Card with Apple Pay and Google Pay to make it even easier to spend crypto¹ at home and on the go. Starting this week, we’ll invite select customers off the waitlist to begin earning up to 4% back in crypto rewards². If you’re already on the waitlist for Coinbase Card , you’ll soon receive an invitation to apply. If you’re not on the waitlist, join here .”

“Coinbase,  the $8 billion crypto exchange giant, is one of a bevy of big-name crypto investors backing a project aimed to revolutionize the U.S. securities industry using blockchain technology.”

“Coinbase Inc., one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, said it obtained an e-money license in the U.K. as it expands services in Europe. A local subsidiary also opened an account at Barclays Plc, easing deposits and withdrawal for clients, the Financial Times said. The license will let Coinbase provide payment services and issue e-money in the country, enabling it to strike more partnerships with other companies, the venture said Wednesday in a statement. The rights, granted by the nation’s Financial Conduct Authority, will extend to more than 20 other European Union countries, it said.”

“Coinbase, the cryptocurrency trading platform that has grown tremendously without any major acquisitions, is getting equipped to make some. Emilie Choi, who did more than 40 deals at LinkedIn as their head of mergers and acquisitions for eight years, has joined Coinbase as its VP of corporate and business development.”