This article briefly:
•Crypto exchange Coinbase has stopped native Bitcoin payments due to operational obstacles.
•Coinbase product lead Lauren Dowling launched an on-chain payments protocol to address customer concerns.
•The news came as JPMorgan upgraded Coinbase Global (COIN) stock to Neutral, sending shares soaring 10%.
An executive at cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase’s digital payment service has announced that the company has made the difficult decision to remove native Bitcoin and other UTXO support.
Lauren Dowling, head of product at Coinbase Commerce, said customers are facing operational challenges with the product.
Coinbase Commerce Stops Offering Native Bitcoin Payments
In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), Dowling highlighted that customers face significant challenges with Coinbase Commerce due to cryptocurrency volatility risks, the manual steps required to resolve incorrect payments, and limited asset support.
Dowling clarified that to address these issues, they developed an on-chain payment protocol using smart contracts and other tools to enable seamless off-chain commerce.
“In addressing these issues, we saw an opportunity to build an open on-chain payment protocol leveraging smart contracts and other EVM tools to enable seamless on-chain commerce without the operational and financial burdens of legacy systems.”
However, Dowling noted that the exchange is continually exploring other ways to provide payment solutions to its customers, including using the Lightning Network and Solana.
Coinbase Commerce Stock Rises After Dropping Native Bitcoin Payments
Meanwhile, Coinbase shares recently surged following positive comments from a major investment bank.
COIN rose 10% after JPMorgan upgraded the exchange’s stock to neutral. The bank’s experts see potential in COIN given its close correlation with the ongoing Bitcoin price momentum.
Before the market closed on the weekend of February 16, the price of COIN reached $180.31.
As Bitcoin hits $52,400, JPMorgan analyst Kenneth Worthington upgraded COIN from underweight to neutral. Last month, Kenneth downgraded the stock to $80, indicating that the stock could fall 35%.
As of the time of this article’s publication, the price of Bitcoin is $52,014.
Meanwhile, Coinbase customers are advised to be cautious about clicking on any email link claiming to be from Coinbase. It is likely a scam trying to steal all of their cryptocurrency.
However, the scheme is known as the Coinbase reset fraud. It involves crypto scammers collecting personal information from users to trick them into resetting their Coinbase login credentials. Media outlets recently reported that the scammers stole more than 1,400 ETH from victims, worth an estimated $4 million.
#加密货币交易所 #比特币支付
