- Coinbase has committed to buying $500 million worth of cryptocurrencies
- The exchange will continue to invest over time
- Brian Armstrong stated that he wants to increase crypto acceptance
Coinbase has added $500 million worth of cryptocurrency to its balance sheet, becoming the first publicly traded company to hold a variety of crypto assets. The exchange revealed the news in the early hours of this morning, stating in a blog post that it wanted to “lead by example” and broaden cryptocurrency acceptance on a global level. Coinbase will also allocate 10% of its quarterly net income into “a diverse portfolio of crypto assets” and might increase its holdings in the future.
Coinbase Puts Its Money Where Its Mouth Is
In its announcement, Coinbase said that the majority of its suppliers don’t accept cryptocurrency payments, something it is hoping to change in the coming years. The post says that the company is in a “strong position” to affect change and will “double down” on boosting cryptocurrency acceptance, starting with their own business model.
As well as converting “$500M of our cash and cash equivalents” into cryptocurrency, Coinbase will continue to invest in various crypto assets “over a multi-year window using a dollar cost averaging strategy”. Of course, Microstrategy is the leading publicly traded company with Bitcoin exposure, holding 105,085 at a cost of over $2.74 billion, but Coinbase seems to be approaching the situation, publicly at least, with a view to increasing usage of the cryptocurrencies they host.
Armstrong Wants Bigger Crypto Acceptance
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong took to Twitter to confirm the news, suggesting that the $500 million purchase was just the start:
We recently received board approval to purchase over $500M of crypto on our balance sheet to add to our existing holdings. And we’ll be investing 10% of all profit going forward in crypto. I expect this percentage to keep growing over time as the cryptoeconomy matures.
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) August 19, 2021
Armstrong added that the company hoped to increase its level of crypto spending compared to fiat, saying that “it is still a mix”. This is hardly a surprise given how few companies readily accept cryptocurrencies, but of all companies Coinbase is well placed to influence its suppliers into accepting cryptocurrencies in the future.
