Cryptocurrency exchange giant Coinbase might, as market research firm Bernstein recently said, be on the cusp of assembling an “unassailable” market share in the U.S., but that doesn’t mean that the San Francisco-based firm isn’t struggling to maintain consumer activity during the current downturn.

Citing data from CoinApi, cryptoasset research firm Diar reports that USD-denominated cryptocurrency trading has plunged in 2018, even as large cryptocurrency-to-cryptocurrency exchanges headquartered in other parts of the world have seen stable or even rising volumes.

According to the publication, Coinbase — the most well-known cryptocurrency trading platform in the U.S. — has seen volumes plunge by 83 percent from their all-time high in January. In July, Coinbase processed an estimated $3.9 billion worth of trades, down from a peak of nearly $21 billion. Bitstamp and Kraken, both of whom offer USD trading pairs, have also experienced significant declines, though they have been less-pronounced than those seen on Coinbase.

Binance, the world’s largest order-book cryptocurrency exchange, has also seen a moderate decline in volumes in its BTC, ETH, BCH, and LTC markets (the four cryptocurrencies that have been available on Coinbase throughout 2018), from $17.5 billion in February to a low of $9.4 billion in June. However, Binance volume jumped 21 percent the next month, reaching $11.3 billion in July.

Meanwhile, OKEx, generally the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, attracted a surge in trading volume among these four-large cap coins between June and July, from to $5.7 billion from $2.9 billion. That not only signifies a month-over-month increase of 97 percent but also, Diar reports, represents a new monthly record for OKEx.

That’s particularly notable since volume on Coinbase and Bitstamp decreased between June and July, albeit slightly. Incidentally, neither Coinbase nor Bitstamp supports USD-pegged stablecoin Tether(USDT), while both OKEx and Binance do. Tether, whose solvency and credibility have been the subject of much debate within the cryptocurrency community, has issued hundreds of millions of dollars worth of new tokens over the past few weeks, which could help explain the discrepancy in volume between exchanges that support USDT and those that do not.

Additionally, both Binance and OKEx, are planning to set up shop in Malta after pro-industry regulations go into effect in the self-described “Blockchain Island” later this year. Binance, which heretofore has only offered crypto-to-crypto trading, has also unveiled plans to partner with a Liechtenstein-based company to begin offering its first fiat trading pairs.

Crypto exchange Coinbase recently filed for a patent detailing a new system to enable online users to make Bitcoin payments more securely. The patent, filed on August 14, will allow users to make payments directly from their Bitcoin wallet.

The patent cites the issue of customers being required to compromise on the security of their own private keys, saying:

“Existing systems do not provide a solution for maintaining security over private keys while still allowing the users to checkout on a merchant page and making payments using their wallets.”

The new system will enable users to pay directly in a “key ceremony” which encrypts private user passphrases into a masterkey during checkout to greatly reduce the risk of the keys being stolen. The masterkey serves the function of encrypting private keys and transaction signing, and upon being used the masterkey is deleted.

The system allows for administrators to freeze all processes using what is described as “freeze logic,” presumably in the event that a user reports that they are being hacked or their identity is being assumed.

“At any point in time after the master key is loaded, the system can be frozen. The system can be unfrozen after it has been frozen using keys from the key ceremony. The checkout process can be carried out when the system is frozen and when the system is unfrozen. The payment process can only be carried out when the system is unfrozen.”

The patent also describes an API generation service that will enable the payment system to be used by other websites and services. The API has two parts, one of which will be stored on the Coinbase web service and the other on the user/host server to allow for an extra security measure as transactions are confirmed “only if the API key received from the web server matches the API key stored by the service.” Such a payment system that allows secure Bitcoin payments on multiple websites could stand to be widely adopted throughout the cryptocurrency and e-commerce space.

Coinbase has applied for numerous Bitcoin-related patents in the past, with nine filed in 2015 alone leading to critics accuse the exchange of seeking to create a monopoly on Bitcoin services, which CEO Brian Armstrong denied in a blog post on Medium which stated that the goal was to keep the technology out of the hands of patent trolls who would patent services and hold them for ransom.

In 2016, the exchange filed for a patent to secure Bitcoin private keys, and in a sense, this new system can be seen as a continuation of that which will allow other businesses to use the Coinbase Bitcoin payment portal.

Cryptocurrency exchange and wallet service Coinbase has acquired San Francisco-based startup Distributed Systems Inc., which works on decentralized identity solutions, according to an August 15 announcement.

In the blog post, B Byrne, project manager for Identity at Coinbase, said Distributed Systems will help the exchange work on new ways to validate and verify identity within its plans to develop an open financial system. The blog post says:

“Blockchain technology that powers cryptocurrencies offers a new way to let us all be “verified” everywhere we go on the internet, feeling safer about our interactions with others and opening the door to the experiences that require trust.”

In the blog post, Byrne describes a type of identity wherein users retain control over their private information, without having to give a copy away. Citing the example of a Social Security Number, Byrne says that every time one is asked to provide it, the recipient now has a version of that information, which “has exactly the same power as the original.”

With the new acquisition, Byrne says Coinbase will work toward a decentralized identity that will “let you prove that you own an identity, or that you have a relationship with the Social Security Administration, without making a copy of that identity.”

Byrne further stated that Coinbase needs to be “deliberate about how and where we apply this technology,” considering anonymity, privacy, and other sensitive data issues.

According to TechCrunch, Distributed Systems was incorporated in 2015 with a focus on developing an identity standard for dApps called the Clear Protocol. Last year, the startup reportedly raised a $1.7 million seed round led by venture capital fund Floodgate.

The company was considering raising a $4 million to $8 million round this summer, but the team began negotiations about investment with Coinbase, which resulted in the acquisition.

Coinbase has previously acquired companies in order to expand its services. In June, the exchange acquired securities dealer Keystone Capital Corp. in addition to Venovate Marketplace, Inc., and Digital Wealth LLC in order to become a fully regulated broker dealer with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The acquisition could help Coinbase extend its offerings and subsequently expand into non-crypto financial products.

U.S. crypto exchange and wallet provider Coinbase has been given the green light from regulators to resume its services in the state of Wyoming, according to an official announcement publishedAugust 3.

The exchange has now reportedly successfully renewed its money transmitter license in the state of Wyoming. The license had been suspended as of mid-2014 due to stipulations in state law that required all exchanges to “double reserve” the digital assets of state residents with fiat currency.

As Coinbase outlined at the time, the exchange had chosen to suspend its services as soon as its operations as a cryptocurrency exchange were deemed by legislators to fall subject to certain conditions for licensure stipulated under the Wyoming Money Transmitters Act (specifically, Chapter 22 of Title 40 – Trade and Commerce, which was introduced in the Wyoming Statutes of 2011 and came into effect by 2014).

According to Coinbase, the Act had hitherto been interpreted by the Wyoming Division of Banking as requiring “licensees [to] maintain dedicated fiat currency reserves in amount equal to the aggregate face value of all bitcoin [sic.] held on behalf of customers,” something the exchange found to be “impractical, costly, and inefficient.”

Having now resumed its services for Wyoming residents, Coinbase credits the state legislature, Governor Matt Mead and members of the Blockchain Task Force with enabling a new bill to be signed into state law that has now effectively removed these restrictions.  

In March, House Bill 19 regarding the exemption of virtual currencies from the Wyoming Money Transmitter Act was passed with a majority of 28-3 by the Wyoming state legislature on March 5 of this year, allowing Coinbase to apply for a license under which it can resume operations as a compliant and regulated exchange.

Alongside House Bill 19, Wyoming has also this March passed House Bill 70 that exempts certain blockchain tokens from securities regulations and money transmission laws, as well as passing a further cryptocurrency related bill, Senate Bill 111, in February that exempts virtual currencies from state property taxation.

Coinbase, the major US cryptocurrency exchange and wallet provider, has entered the cryptocurrency gift card market, which will allow customers in certain countries to exchange their crypto points for gift cards according to their blog post on July 25.

Coinbase conference through a partnership with a UK-based startup WeGift, that the whole allow cryptocurrency users to pay for goods and services through brands like Google Play, Nike, Uber, Ticketmaster, and Zalando.

Starting immediately, Coinbase customers in Europe and Australia will be able to instantly spend their cryptocurrency balance on e-gift cards making it the first trading platform to offer immediate withdrawals to gift cards.

The service will initially be available to Coinbase users in the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, and Australia with plans to expand the number of retailers and markets within the next 3 months. They also plan to expand to other countries within the year.

God’s Unchained is the first competitive e-sports game on the Ethereum network. The game recently launched with backing from Coinbase, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange and wallet provider.

Currently, the blockchain game has mainly been limited to a few collectibles which can be purchased inside the application where users buy and sell digital assets just like they would baseball cards.

The game has undoubtedly caught the attention of investors, however current data shows that daily active users are still rather low at time of this release.

UPDATE (8/1/2018): Guide To Purchasing Card Packs & Get Started Playing located below.

Hybrid Chain System Backed by Coinbase

The development company behind this revolutionary game, Fuel Games, previously launched another popular Ethereum based game by the name of Etherbots . It operated on the Ethereum network as a full on-chain game where every piece of data was created and sent to the Ethereum blockchain.

However, developers of God’s Unchained took a different approach to this game by including a hybrid on-chain and off-chain system. This allows information to be processed in batches and will prevent congesting the Ethereum network as well as provide users with a seamless experience.

The cofounder of the game, Robbie Ferguson explained…

“The cards are stored on the Ethereum blockchain, however players in God’s unchained will only initiate transactions on the network once they purchase cards or transfer existing ones. All other gameplay elements will run off-chain, which will allow gameplay to be indistinguishable from other games that do not utilize distributed ledger’s. This will permit millions of users to play without any noticeable waiting down of the network.”

Most notably , Fuel Games secured an investment from Coinbase ventures within its equity round of investing. Ferguson emphasized that having Coinbase involved with the launching of the game was clear validation regarding the efforts of the developers as well as the $50 billion industry of game asset trading on the Ethereum blockchain.

Two Layer Ethereum Solution Useful, but Not Necessary for Gods Unchained

Recently, the entire open source Ethereum development community has been focusing on Sharding and Plasma technologies. These are two-layer to scaling solutions which are expected to increase the capacity of the Ethereum network to over 1 million transactions per second.

However, Ferguson stated that Gods Unchained is not relying on the completion of these two developments in order to settle large amounts of data on the decentralized ecosystem. Fuel Game developers will be building their own unique system to cope with the current landscape of the Ethereum network.

Ferguson also states…

“The impact of Sharding and Plasma will be an extremely useful development for the Ethereum network in the near future. However, this is not necessary for Gods Unchained to run well. Trading may become a lot easier with these developments, however we’ve already made the necessary choices in order to ensure that gameplay will be seamless, regardless if Ethereum scales or not. Sharding and Plasma should not be rushed and it’s much better for developers and gamers to not rush into releasing these upgrades until they are fully tested.”

Gods Unchained: The New Generation Blockchain Games

Currently, there isn’t much known about Gods Unchained, however we do know that it will be free to play. There will be a series of game cards which can be won, as well as various rare assets that can be purchased with ether. The value of these digital assets can be changed once a developer decides to release more assets or offer special deals.

There will also be e-sports features to ensure that participants get a full multiplayer experience. Like most other blockchain based games, users will be able to exit the game whenever they like and make back or even generate a positive ROI by selling purchases they make or earn.

Check out the gameplay video here…

Purchasing Cards

Early adopters have a chance to build their card deck right away with their current rebate. Every day, the rebate lowers so take advantage of the early adopter special while you can.

You have a great opportunity to make a return on investment if you invest in the Genesis cards before their official launch. 

If RPGs are more your style, check out our review on Ether Online. This solid, turn based MMORPG has been getting a lot of attention within the Ethereum based gaming community.

Gods Unchained Overview

How to Purchase Card Packs & Start Playing

#1 – Connect to Metamask

Like most Ethereum based games, you’ll need to connect to the Metamask extension. This browser extension will allow you to purchase Gods Unchained playing cards. You can download it here for Chrome, Firefox, and Opera browsers.

If you need help installing the extension, check out the video guide located here. 

#2 – Purchase Card Packs

The card packs include five cards. Each pack includes up to one higher level playing card (rare, epic, legendary, shiny legendary) depending on the amount you paid.

Typically Legendary packs are the most powerful, followed by Shiny Legendary, Epic, Rare, and then Common.

#3 – Select Packs

Choose the type of packs you want to order and select from 1,6,18,50, or 100. We chose the rare pack to start, but was pleasantly surprised to find that we received 2 higher level cards in our pack of 5.

#4 – Purchasing Your Pack

The Metamask notification will enable you to submit your purchase to the Ethereum blockchain. Just click on the green submit button to continue.

You’ll also notice gwei, which is the ethereum transaction fee, also known as Gas. Typically a few gwei is enough to conduct a fast transaction. You can make adjustments to the gas transactions (faster or slower) on the ETH Gas Station.

#5 Pack Confirmation Order

Typically the websites will display a notification regarding the transaction wait time, which will usually take a few minutes to complete.

Once the transaction has completed, players will have full control of their playing cards as they are purchased on the ethereum blockchain and are not centrally controlled by a company like other games such as Hearthstone.

#6 Open Cards

Select the top right hand menu in order to open your cards. Next, drag the pack to the center pedestal in order to open it.

You’ll view a few cool animations and sound effects before opening your pack.

#7 Your Cards are Now Revealed

Click on each card to reveal them. Your cards will now be entirely viewable.  We received 2 shiny legendary cards which were marked by blue arrows next to the name. Three Common cards were received, which are not marked with any particular color next to the name.

Your cards will now be reflected within your inventory. Click on the 5^th link in the top left menu to view your cards.

If you’d like to view all the Genesis Set cards inside the game, click here.

Brush Up On Your Gameplay

Gods Unchained also provides you with an Advanced Gameplay strategy section , which will help you better prepare for battle with other players. I highly recommend you read up on this if you plan on getting started on the right foot.

I doubt most other players will read up on this section before playing, so take advantage of it while you can.

Coinbase has become the first crypto industry organisation in the USA to form a Political Action Committee (PAC). This was revealed on July 20 in a filing by the United States Federal Election Commission (FEC). The move is the latest in a series of bold moves by the crypto exchange and wallet provider as it looks to secure its long term future.

Much Ado About PACs

Under American federal law, an organization is classified as a PAC if it collects donations worth more than $1,000 from its members and channels them into campaign funds with the intention of influencing an electoral process. Such organizations must register with the FEC under the  provisions of the Federal Election Campaign Act 1974.

Political Action Committees are formed to support election candidates whose policies or ideological viewpoints tie in with the objectives of PAC members. They also exist to provide a platform for dialogue between social, political or economic interests and political office holders in order to establish points of understanding and cooperation.

What’s in It For Coinbase

The biggest motive for Coinbase is of course access to the politicians that have substantial influence over financial regulatory policy. The American political and financial establishment has historically viewed cryptocurrency with suspicion, and so it could be useful to establish dialogue with politicians and support candidates with a “light touch” regulatory ideology.

At a time when there is a substantial amount of uncertainty in the crypto market because of regulatory attention, a crypto industry PAC could effectively go over the regulators’ heads to engage with the politicians that influence policy.

Some key points of agreement resulting from such dialogue could include regulatory clarity, protection of the crypto industry as a job creator and promotion of blockchain technology solutions to public service challenges.

While forming a PAC is an industry first, Coinbase is no stranger to the strategy of political engagement and donations in furtherance of a pro-business agenda. Co-founder Fred Ehrsam has a well documented Republican leaning, donating a total of $12,800 to Republican candidates over the years. Notably, he made multiple donations to former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney between 2007 and 2011.

Coinbase was engaging with the SEC about becoming a regulated brokerage firm and trading platform. The company recently signed up a $20 billion hedge fund for its institutional brokerage service, which counts as a major win.

Carrying out brokerage services alongside its crypto exchange services could be seen by SEC as a possible conflict of interest, and this could potentially be yet another area of dialogue to be facilitated by the PAC.

Coinbase announced today that will be exploring 5 new cryptocurrencies for its trading’s products including Basic Attention Token (BAT), Cardano (ADA), Zcash (ZEC), 0x (ZRX), and Stellar Lumens (XLM).

There is no guarantee that the list visual currencies will be added, however the team is currently exploring the technicalities behind each asset. Coinbase provides a detailed FAQ within their Twitter announcement regarding the reasoning why they decided to choose the 5 cryptocurrency projects as candidates.

A few weeks ago, Coinbase announced plans to add Ethereum Classic  (ETC) to their list of coins to trade. Within announcement, Coinbase notated the similarities between Ethereum and Ethereum Classic which helps make the process much simpler. Given that the tokens are technically different, there is additional work that needs to be done before moving forward.

Currently there is no indication or timeline regarding the potential listing for any of the projects.

Coinbase, the major US cryptocurrency exchange, announced its newest business regarding digital assets for institutional investors has now been launched according to their blog post on July 2.

The exchange first revealed its plans to open “Coinbase Custody” back in late 2017. The company stated that they were seeking to address what they consider to be the number one concern of institutional investors, which was primarily security.

Coinbase Custody will most notably be secured through an SEC compliance Electronic Transaction Clearing (ETC). This addresses institutional investor concerns by abiding by the terms of US regulations, the SEC, as well as Wall Street financial industry regulatory Authority (FINRA).

Institutions from the US and Europe can now store cryptocurrency on Coinbase custody which will support Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). Coinbase stated that they plan to continue adding more cryptocurrency assets as well as open the service to Asian institutional investors by the end of the year.

The exchange will employ a wide range of security measures including “on chain segregation of cryptocurrency”, off-line multi-sig and geographically distributed transaction protection, and extensive cold storage auditing and reporting.

Coinbase custody is the first to launch its suite of products which could potentially unlock $10 billion worth of institutional investor money sitting on the sidelines.

The exchanges is also attempting to become fully a SEC regulated broker-dealer through there are recent acquisition of the financial services firms as well as pursuing their own federal banking license.

Coinbase has also recently revealed the plans to do broaden their user base to the Japanese cryptocurrency market. However, amidst  their consistent expansion, the online tech website Mashable uncovered 134 pages of complaints filed by Coinbase users which included harsh criticism of the company for allegedly being underprepared for their fast-paced growth.

Stablecoin, a new stabilized cryptocurrency project that functions like normal money, has received  new support and investments from Peter Thiel, Coinbase, Distributed Global, and 40 others according to the press release on June 20.

The development stage of the coin is dubbed “Reserve” and closed a collective of $5 million to develop a fully decentralized cryptocurrency which works by securing other crypto assets in a smart contract. Cryptocurrencies will then provide backing via the reserve token in order to stabilize its price.

According to the cofounder of the Reserve, Nevin Freeman, the initial funding was intentionally kept small as the focus was more on partnership building rather than amassing capital.

Reserve token offers a solution to countries that have value decreasing fiat currencies and high inflation rates jeopardize citizens savings and security.

While cryptocurrency is currently decentralized and protects its citizens from government control, the price volatility of most crypto limits it from serving most retail uses.

Freeman states…

“Simply put, nobody wants to spend money on it token that may be worth less one month and then another value another month. Nobody wants to store their savings on a token that will be worth nothing in a year.”

In related news, Circle is focused on creating a fiat stabilized coin which recently closed $110 million in fund raising. The company also partnered with the mining hardware manufacturer Bitmain with regard to the development of the stablecoin.

Tether, the most popular and infamous of all stablecoins, confirmed today that there Tether tokens (USDT) are proven to be back by the USD according to a major US law firm.