• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechThe 21st Century Corporation

Behind the Redesign and Reinvention of Coinbase

Robert Hackett
By
Robert Hackett
Robert Hackett
Down Arrow Button Icon
Robert Hackett
By
Robert Hackett
Robert Hackett
Down Arrow Button Icon
October 19, 2016, 3:00 PM ET
Courtesy of Coinbase

Despite Bitcoin’s failure to achieve its initial promise as quickly as early enthusiasts expected, Coinbase, a digital money startup based in San Francisco, has continued to chug along, attempting to find its footing in a market defined less by everyday consumers than by speculators and aficionados.

Founded four years ago by a former Goldman Sachs (GS) trader and an Airbnb engineer, Coinbase is one of the most well-funded cryptocurrency ventures yet. It has raised $117 million at private valuation approaching $500 million, according to a source familiar the company’s finances.

Given slower-than-expected adoption rates for Bitcoin combined with technological issues that have prevented the fundamental technology from processing a greater number of transactions, Coinbase has been subtly reinventing itself over the past year or so. First launched as a wallet for people to stash their Bitcoin online, Coinbase has been evolving into a broker that people can use to buy and sell digital money.

On Wednesday, the company is debuting a “beta version” redesign of its website that will enter full production in the next two weeks. The changes are more than cosmetic—they’re indicative of a company that is adapting and pivoting into new businesses while hoping to attract a broader customer base.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

“Fundamentally, Coinbase is an easy on-ramp to this world,” says Fred Ehrsam, a Coinbase cofounder, comparing the software to AOL during the Internet’s early days. “You need the right interface for practical, everyday people to be able to use it.”

Here’s a screenshot of the company’s newly designed brokerage page, where users can buy and sell digital money and various government backed bills. For example, a person can exchange U.S. dollars for Bitcoin, or vice verse.

buy_1

“The evolution shows what we are strategically focused on as a company,” said Dan Romero, vice president of operations at Coinbase, in an email.

Jori Lallo, lead engineer on the project, clarified that “the new design is more like Fidelity or Schwab than Venmo.”

For comparison, below is an image of the old layout.

old-buy-page
People have exchanged more than $5 billion in digital and regular currencies through Coinbase to date, the company says. This year the firm is on track to help people exchange $2.5 billion, a sum about equal to what was traded through it in the last three years combined, the company tells Fortune.

In May, Coinbase added the option for customers to trade more than just Bitcoin. It added Ether, a rival cryptocurrency whose market capitalization exceeds $1 billion. Ether trading now generates 15% of Coinbase’s revenue, the company tells Fortune. (You can read more about Ethereum, the decentralized network that undergirds Ether, in this recent Fortune feature story about Vialik Buterin, its creator.)

For more on Bitcoin, watch:

The decision to expand beyond one cryptocurrency led Coinbase earlier this year to rename its Bitcoin exchange GDAX, or global digital asset exchange, a professionalized platform where traders can engage in high frequency trading. In August, the company added to GDAX another popular cryptocurrency, Litecoin, developed by Charlie Lee, a Coinbase engineer.

Although Coinbase would not reveal its exact revenue figures, it said that its monthly revenues have grown three times in the past year. The numbers have been buoyed by interest following Brexit, as the British pound took a hammering and people looked for alternative stores of value. The uptick can also be attributed to the company’s international expansion into markets like Australia, increased transaction limits on Coinbase’s brokerage, as well as growing interest in alternative cryptocurrencies like Ether.

“I think we’ve just hit our stride with a product that’s easier to use,” says Brian Armstrong, Coinbase CEO and cofounder. He adds that the company is committed to working with regulators and government authorities to ensure it is abiding by all financial rules in relevant jurisdictions, rather than storming into new markets with a freewheeling exchange and asking for forgiveness later.

Here’s another shot of another page on the company’s newly redesigned website, a view of its “dashboard,” which shows a customer’s portfolio of currencies, recent transaction activity, and price changes.

dashboard_1

And, for comparison, the old “wallet” page is below.

old-wallet

Ehrsam and Armstrong say they believe that “app coins” and tokens built on top of decentralized networks like Ethereum will lead to bolstered interest in cryptocurrencies.

“I think this is a huge concept that the world does not yet understand, but will become very important over time,” Ehrsam says, pointing to examples such as “file coin,” a digital token designed to power a decentralized document storage app similar to Dropbox, as well as “reputation,” a token designed to let people bet on just about anything through the prediction market Augur.

When asked about Augur’s rocky “initial coin offering,” the cryptocurrency equivalent of an initial public offering which took place on rival exchanges such as Poloniex and Kraken, Ehrsam attributes the post-debut price slump to “some irrational exuberance prior to the launch.”

“People are getting their heads on straight,” Ehrsam says, mentioning that Coinbase plans to consider adding additional tokens and cryptocurrencies for trade in the future, after seeing them gain traction in other markets first. (No word yet on which ones.) “It’s exciting but early days,” he says.

About the Author
Robert Hackett
By Robert Hackett
Instagram iconLinkedIn iconTwitter icon
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

dees
CommentaryNational Security
A retired general’s warning: America can’t fight the AI arms race on tech it doesn’t control
By Robert F. DeesApril 15, 2026
23 minutes ago
Mike Horton poses with his arms crossed.
NewslettersTerm Sheet
Exclusive: Hyfix raises $15 million to build a U.S. alternative to DJI’s drone dominance
By Lily Mae LazarusApril 15, 2026
2 hours ago
A ULA Atlas V-551 rocket lifts off with 27 new Amazon Leo satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on December 14, 2025. (Photo: Manuel Mazzanti/NurPhoto/Getty Images)
NewslettersFortune Tech
Why Amazon bought Globalstar for $11.6 billion
By Andrew NuscaApril 15, 2026
3 hours ago
Jeremy Renner
AIHealth
Exclusive: Jeremy Renner bets on the tech that could have saved his life faster: ‘There’s 150 people that are responsible for me not dying’
By Catherina GioinoApril 15, 2026
3 hours ago
The hidden menace behind Big Tech’s AI arms race: Meta, Amazon and others are spending billions on hardware that’s worthless in 3 years
AIFinance
The hidden menace behind Big Tech’s AI arms race: Meta, Amazon and others are spending billions on hardware that’s worthless in 3 years
By Shawn TullyApril 15, 2026
5 hours ago
The billionaire Anthropic cofounder who majored in literature says knowing how to ask the right questions beats knowing how to code
SuccessTech
The billionaire Anthropic cofounder who majored in literature says knowing how to ask the right questions beats knowing how to code
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezApril 14, 2026
15 hours ago

Most Popular

Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has donated again—a week after gifting millions to a college, she's just given $70 million to Meals on Wheels America
Success
Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has donated again—a week after gifting millions to a college, she's just given $70 million to Meals on Wheels America
By Fortune EditorsApril 13, 2026
2 days ago
Retirees are facing a $345,000 bill they never saw coming — and most aren't prepared
Commentary
Retirees are facing a $345,000 bill they never saw coming — and most aren't prepared
By Fortune EditorsApril 14, 2026
1 day ago
He was coding at 12 like Elon Musk and became one of Google’s youngest-ever CMOs—but now says Gen Z is better off ice skating than learning to code
Success
He was coding at 12 like Elon Musk and became one of Google’s youngest-ever CMOs—but now says Gen Z is better off ice skating than learning to code
By Fortune EditorsApril 14, 2026
1 day ago
Anthropic is facing a wave of user backlash over reports of performance issues with its Claude AI chatbot
AI
Anthropic is facing a wave of user backlash over reports of performance issues with its Claude AI chatbot
By Fortune EditorsApril 14, 2026
1 day ago
Palantir CEO says working at his $316 billion software company is better than a degree from Harvard or Yale: ‘No one cares about the other stuff’
Success
Palantir CEO says working at his $316 billion software company is better than a degree from Harvard or Yale: ‘No one cares about the other stuff’
By Fortune EditorsApril 14, 2026
24 hours ago
Current price of oil as of April 14, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of April 14, 2026
By Fortune EditorsApril 14, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.