From Bitcoin wallet to digital asset broker Despite Bitcoin’s failure to achieve its initial promise as quickly as early enthusiasts expected, Coinbase, a digital money startup based in San Francisco, has continued to chug along, attempting to find its footing in a market defined less by everyday consumers than by speculators and aficionados. Founded four years ago by a former Goldman Sachs GS 1.31% trader and an Airbnb engineer, Coinbase is one of the most well-funded cryptocurrency ventures yet. It has raised $117 million at private valuation approaching $500 million, according to a source familiar the company’s finances. Given slower-than-expected adoption rates for Bitcoin combined with technological issues that have prevented the fundamental technology from processing a greater number of transactions, Coinbase has been subtly reinventing itself over the past year or so. First launched as a wallet for people to stash their Bitcoin online, Coinbase has been evolving into a broker that people can use to buy and sell digital money. On Wednesday, the company is debuting a “beta version” redesign of its website that will enter full production in the next two weeks. The changes are more than cosmetic—they’re indicative of a company that is adapting and pivoting into new businesses while hoping to attract a broader customer base. Get Data Sheet , Fortune’s technology newsletter. “Fundamentally, Coinbase is an easy on-ramp to this world,” says Fred Ehrsam, a Coinbase cofounder, comparing the software to AOL during the Internet’s early days. “You need the right interface for practical, everyday people to be able to use it.” Here’s a screenshot of the company’s newly designed brokerage page, where users can buy and sell digital money and various government backed bills. For example, a person can exchange U.S. dollars for Bitcoin, or vice verse. “The evolution shows what we […]
