Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong reveals plans for a crypto App Store inspired by Apple

Coinbase

Coinbase plans to launch a crypto app store to offer decentralized apps built by outside software developers, the company's CEO Brian Armstrong has said, in a project seemingly inspired by Apple's storefront.

In a blog post published Tuesday, Armstrong said Coinbase's goal is to allow any app built on decentralized crypto digital infrastructure to be accessible to the crypto exchange's users, by integrating a customer's wallet with their identity. He didn't say when such an App Store could launch.

"There is now 10s of billions of dollars of economic activity running on dApps, and a new trend coming out every three months. We'll work to give our users easy access to all of this from the main Coinbase product," wrote Armstrong, who cofounded Coinbase in 2012.

Unlike traditional apps, dApps – decentralized or distributed apps – don't run on centralized infrastructure but, like bitcoin, get processing resources from a pool of thousands of computers around the world and operate on a blockchain. Thousands of dApps are already available, seen as free from control of a single entity.

Apple has had an influence on Coinbase's thinking, going by Armstrong's post. The iPhone maker built an ecosystem of third-party software around its hardware by inviting developers to submit their products for listing on its App Store, for a fee.

"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," Armstrong said. "We need to do the same in crypto."

Coinbase

At the same time, Armstrong outlined plans for the crypto exchange to become the go-to platform for people wanting to participate in the cryptoeconomy.

"We're seeing crypto quickly mature from its initial use case of trading bitcoin to the trading of thousands of new assets, and the adoption of new use cases like Decentralized Finance (DeFi), NFTs, smart contracts, Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), and more," he wrote.

"Much of this is relatively new and there are challenges to using it, but I see it as the future of where this industry is going."

Coinbase's plans come as regulators in the UK, Japan, and Canada tighten their hold over crypto exchanges. A British financial regulator this week banned Binance from operating regulated activity in the country, essentially communicating that those wanting to set up crypto investment products must do so in a secure and regulated environment.

"The crypto ecosystem shares a common goal in making this technology accessible around the globe," Colin Pape, founder of decentralized search engine Presearch, told Insider. "Governments that are early to provide the right clarity around crypto can allow their citizens to have more freedom, privacy, and control over their financial lives in the long term."

In a Twitter thread on Monday, Armstrong said his exchange wants to list every crypto asset that is legally acceptable, but doesn't offer opinions on each asset's value.

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