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Coinbase Is Launching A Crypto App Store

In a company blog post released this week, major crypto exchange Coinbase has shared that it is working on a crypto app store. The app store will be built for third-party developers to help increase access to the “decentralized cryptoeconomy” – culminated by an increasing amount of tools within DeFi, NFTs, smart contracts, DAOs, and more.

Coinbase: Embracing Decentralization

The blog post, written by CEO Brian Armstrong and titled “Embracing decentralization at Coinbase”, alludes to inspiration from Apple’s Storefront. “Apple didn’t attempt to build every app for the iPhone, it empowered developers and gave mobile users an easy way to access new innovative apps. We need to do the same in crypto,” the post states. The release also states growth opportunities, and the importance of being global as two other pillars around increasing the value-add for Coinbase consumers.

“The use cases are here,” claims Armstrong – and rightfully so. Crypto-based assets beyond simple tokens have been on a tear this year, including NFTs with physical and tangible associated assets, integrated dApps, and sports and entertainment ‘fan tokens’ to name just a few examples.

Related Reading | Coinbase Pro To List Shiba Inu, The “Dogecoin Killer” Price Soars

Looking Forward

There is no timetable set yet for the app store’s launch. The Nasdaq-listed company also noted the importance of adding more assets to Coinbase, as well as implement the ability to add new coins at a faster clip. Armstrong noted that legal and security compliance analyzation remains critical, he wants to streamline the asset vetting process to be quicker to serve clients on both ends. They will do so by addressing three major buckets: reducing the burden on asset issuers, creating a new “experimental zone” for new assets, and at it’s core, moving towards approving most assets for store/send/receive.

Additionally, while the firm serves consumers across over 100 countries, Armstrong wants more. He has cited the need “to move from shipping products that cater only to the US (or UK / EU) to shipping products that work globally.” While US, UK, and EU regulations have led to a good chunk of workload for Coinbase, the firm wants to continue the shift towards a more “International-first mindset”.

Finally, Coinbase wants to better embrace third-party interfaces and self-custody – and ideally the new app store can help achieve that. “Soon any app built on decentralized crypto rails will be accessible to users of the Coinbase app,” Armstrong writes, adding that customer wallets and identities should have streamlined integration. “In the future you will have the option to do self-custody of your crypto, right in the main Coinbase app”. More to come from one of the major leading exchanges.

During the recent bearish cycle, the broader cryptoeconomy has continued to grow - and Coinbase is looking to dig in deeper. | Source: CRYPTOCAP on TradingView.com

Related Reading | The USDC Stablecoin Will Soon Expand Its Reach To 10 More Networks

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Go Phish: How This Bitcoin Investor Lost 17 BTC To An iPhone App

Bitcoin is once again making headlines everywhere, mostly for all the right reasons this time around. However, where there’s money to be made, there’s also scammers waiting in the shadows to steal funds whenever they can.

The latest situation involves a highly sophisticated replica of a popular Apple iPhone app, a malicious application from Apple’s App Store, and a now stolen 17 BTC.

Bitcoin Investor Has Half A Million Dollars Worth Of BTC Stolen

During the height of the 2017 bull market, one of the symbols that cryptocurrencies had “made it” was when Coinbase had been topping the Apple App Store for iOS devices for days on end. Investors were flocking to the platform in droves as Bitcoin FOMO took over.

These days, there’s much more variety out there, including more ways to buy or store cryptocurrencies beyond just Coinbase alone. The platform remains the most popular out there, set to go public within the next year or so.

Related Reading | Bitcoin Searches Spike On Google After Twitter Scam Goes Viral

Investors can also store their coins in third-party wallets, or use an app interface to interact with their hardware wallets, like Ledger or Trezor.

That’s exactly what Phillipe Christodoulou meant to do, but instead lost a staggering 17.1 BTC – worth over a half a million dollars – in a phishing scam.

bitcoin phishing 17 btc

The more expensive Bitcoin gets, the more scammers it attracts | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com

Beware Of Phishing Scams In Apple App Store, Social Media, And Elsewhere

Christodoulou downloaded a highly rated, five-star app from Apple’s App Store, the company’s flagship and regularly quality-controlled platform. Apple maintains certain standards, and works to prevent situations like this from happening.

But then why did it? Christodoulou is furious with the company and rightfully so. He is also demanding answers and justice.

“They betrayed the trust that I had in them,” he told The Washington Post. “Apple doesn’t deserve to get away with this.”

Scammers regularly pull this tactic with Apple’s App Store, and unfortunately, this application somehow snuck through. The app was posing as a Trezor app, bearing the company’s logo and all.

Related Reading | The Most Common Bitcoin Scams And How To Avoid Them

But after loading it with his life-savings, it wasn’t until later he had realized what had unfolded. The app was a phishing app, and now his 17.1 BTC are in the hands of a scammer.

Scams like this are unfortunately common wherever users aggregate and offer a back door to crypto assets. Even real, verified apps or in other situations, social media accounts, can still get hacked and result in a loss of coins.

It’s also important to always keep legitimate apps or wallets fully up to date, to avoid any loop holes or security vulnerabilities that have since been fixed, but must be installed through user intervention.

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