Coinbase, Exchanges

Is Coinbase Licensed in California?

Coinbase is a digital asset exchange company headquartered in San Francisco, California. They broker exchanges of Bitcoin (₿), Ethereum (Ξ), Litecoin (Ł) and other digital assets with fiat currencies in 32 countries, and bitcoin transactions and storage in 190 countries worldwide.

Coinbase was founded in June 2012 by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam. It has been a subsidiary of crypto exchange GDAX since 2016.

As of May 2018, Coinbase had 15 million registered users with a portfolio worth $20 billion.

NOTE: WARNING: Coinbase is not a licensed financial institution in California. This means that it does not have the authority to offer banking services, such as accepting deposits or providing access to investment products. As such, any transactions you make with Coinbase are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or other regulatory agencies. Therefore, you should only use Coinbase if you understand the risks involved and are comfortable with the potential loss of any funds you may deposit.

Coinbase is one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges and allows you to buy & sell Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin & other popular coins. Coinbase also allows you to store your coins in their online wallet & provides a mobile wallet app.

Coinbase is licensed to engage in money transmission in most US states, and they have been granted a BitLicense by the New York State Department of Financial Services. However, Coinbase is not licensed in California.

This does not mean that Coinbase cannot do business in California, but it does mean that they are not subject to regulation by the California Department of Business Oversight.

Previous ArticleNext Article