Coinbase expands to Canada

Coinbase, a San Francisco-based bitcoin wallet and platform that facilitates bitcoin transactions, has recently announced the expansion of its services in Canada, in a blog post. Its buy/sell functionality is now available in 27 countries.

"As of today, our customers in Canada can buy and sell bitcoin with CAD using our Buy/Sell service, as well as trade the BTC/CAD currency pair on Coinbase Exchange", it said.

Speaking to CoinDesk, CEO Brian Armstrong suggested that although they have seen successful launch in more developed markets, they are making efforts to extend the services to developing markets. He said that in countries with proficiency in English language and high technological literacy, the navigation of regulatory environments has been easier.

Armstrong told CoinDesk:

"It's not where we would want to launch first, it's actually where the partners we have to work with are able to work with us first. But certainly Canada has a huge population of people that are interested in bitcoin that didn't have easy ways to buy and sell it."

The company has integrated with Calgary-based Vogogo, a risk management & payment processing specialist.

In a press release, Vogogo announced that it has completed integration of its proprietary compliance, risk management and payment processing platform and is now live with leading Bitcoin exchange Coinbase.

"Vogogo is committed to playing its part in enabling and accelerating the growth of global bitcoin exchanges," said Geoff Gordon, CEO at Vogogo, as reported by Betakit. "Through providing secure, effective and compliant access to global banking and payment networks, exchanges such as Coinbase can focus on being the very best at their business."