Brian Armstrong, CEO and co-founder of popular U.S.-based digital currency exchange Coinbase took to Twitter yesterday to announce the publication of what he calls a “quarterly perspective,” which had apparently previously only seen internal distribution.
Armstrong additionally claims that the sharing of this information is an act of community trust-building by way of “transparency.”
Only Accomplishments, Apparently
Entitled What we accomplished at Coinbase in Q2 2018, the self-hosted article lists a variety of positive news and numbers from their most recent period, which provides an informative – if one-sided – piece of reading.
Talent acquisition sits at the top of the list, with over 60 new hires having been made over the period by the California-based company: five of which being executive or senior level leadership positions.
Additionally, Coinbase boasts to have made a number of strategic corporate acquisitions also, naming the likes of Earn.com, Cipher Browser, Paradex, and Keystone. These sit alongside venture investments whose ranks include OpenSea, Elph, TruStory, Reserve, and Rare Bits.
Internal business transformation is another key development mentioned in the review. Beyond establishing and launching two new business units (the Coinbase Index Fund and Coinbase Custody), they also mention a so-called evolution of GDAX by splitting it into two subdivisions (“Coinbase Pro, for active traders, and Coinbase Prime, for institutional investors”).
Coinbase also make clear what they describe as significant contributions to the development of cryptocurrency regulation in the U.S. at both a federal and state level. A point further discussed here.
Other Side of the Coinbase
It could be argued however that these words should be taken with a pinch of salt.
This is a piece of marketing / PR of course, although the same could be said of more qualitative reports such as that published by Ripple earlier this month. Furthermore, despite Brian Armstrong’s citation of transparency, the article is little more than a self-congratulatory list of achievements with no heed of public concerns or comprehensive numbers.
Recent concerns coming from the public include poor customer support quality (which has been addressed: “In Q2, we increased our support team by over 150%, decreased our average time to first response to <10 hours for 95% of incoming volume”), and requests for the addition of the Ethereum Classic (ETC) token to the site’s trading roster.
An even greater concern perhaps, and possibly a source of inspiration for the company’s distracting propaganda publications, are the recent allegations levied against them of insider trading activities surrounding Bitcoin Cash (BCH). It has concluded that it is free of guilt after conducting an internal inquiry.
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