Coinbase opens Bitcoin exchange in the UK

Coindesk reported that Coinbase, the US Bitcoin wallet website that received the largest round of funding in Bitcoin history, recently opened a Bitcoin exchange in the UK, expanding its Bitcoin payment, exchange and business services to countries outside the US. In January this year, Coinbase just announced the establishment of the first formal Bitcoin exchange in the US. This time, the opening of the exchange in the UK is its second formal Bitcoin exchange after the US exchange.

As for the specific reasons for choosing the UK as the location for the second Bitcoin exchange, Brian Armstrong, founder and CEO of Coinbase, said that the demand for Bitcoin in the UK is very large, higher than other European countries, and London is one of the direct financial centers, so this time they chose to open a second exchange in London.

Users in the UK can now trade Bitcoin against British Pounds (BTC/GBP) and Bitcoin against Euros (BTC/EUR) through Coinbase Exchange. Armstrong said that Coinbase has received very good data since opening its Bitcoin exchange in the United States in January this year. "We are already the largest exchange in the United States in terms of trading volume, and we are also among the top three or four in the world. I think that opening a business in the UK can help us increase the liquidity on the platform," said Armstrong.

Armstrong said that Coinbase will encounter two major problems when expanding to other countries: finding banks willing to cooperate with them and passing government supervision. In terms of cooperative banks, Armstrong did not disclose who the specific cooperative banks of the British exchange are. In terms of government supervision, Armstrong said that although it takes time to deal with British government agencies, Coinbase finally got the support of the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Coinbase is also continuing its international expansion. The company is currently in talks with government agencies in several countries to discuss the launch of bitcoin exchange and payment services. Armstrong said their goal this year is to open at least bitcoin payment services in 40 countries by the end of the year. Coinbase currently has operations in 24 countries.

To date, Coinbase has received a total of US$106 million in financing, has 105 employees, 2.1 million users and more than 39,000 merchant users worldwide.