UK customers can now start trading their local currency on the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, by daily trading volume, Coinbase. This is the latest move the exchange is making toward legitimizing cryptocurrency trading in the European market. Before now, British customers usually converted their British Pounds to Euros, and vice versa, before buying virtual currencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). However, this will no longer be necessary. Beyond question, this is good news because these customers can now save extra fees that come with foreign currency conversions. According to the firm’s CEO in the UK, Zeeshan Feroz, the GBP trading packages come in Coinbase Prime and Coinbase Pro.
Coinbase’s Experience in the United Kingdom
The San Francisco-based exchange has been working on this United Kingdom rollout for nearly six months. However, it has finally come to fruition. Recall that in March 2018, Coinbase earned the license of United Kingdom’s investment watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority. Afterward, the exchange went ahead to announce that it would be the first UK-based cryptocurrency exchange to support the country’s Fast Payment Scheme. Just like a firm that means business in the UK, Coinbase opened a bank account with the UK’s largest bank, Barclays, the same month. This marked the first deal between a UK bank and a cryptocurrency firm.
Competitors Are Taking a Similar Step
As Coinbase keeps expanding in the UK, other competitors are taking a similar step. In this regard, another virtual currency exchange, Binance, is looking to offer services in British Pound pairs. Reports say that the exchange has already initiated the right moves. Binance signed an agreement with Jersey officials in the hopes of launching its crypto/pound exchange soon. Jersey is an island just off the British coast. If everything goes as planned, Coinbase will have to contend with Binance in the UK market.
In a statement to buttress the effort they are making in the UK, Binance’s Chief Finance Officer, Zhou Wei, gave more insight. Wei explained that their successful setup of a fiat exchange in Jersey will attract a lot of other companies that are already eyeing the island. The CFO noted that there has been a drop in their volume of GBP trading. According to Wei, if this continues it will make Coinbase “the clear winner in the race into the UK market.”
Binance in the United States
Just like the UK, Binance is working around the clock to leave a footprint in the US market, a traditional Coinbase monopolistic stronghold. While Binance continues to strategize to compete for the US market with Coinbase, it also has continued to battle regulatory challenges in the US.
RISK DISCLOSURE
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