Crypto exchange Coinbase is developing a platform designed to give startups a simple way to launch custom crypto assets.
In a podcast hosted by investor Patrick O’Shaughnessy, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong talks about the many regulatory and funding impediments faced by crypto startups. Although Coinbase has invested in at least 60 crypto startups through Coinbase Ventures, Armstrong says regulatory nuances remain unclear for startups that are trying to break into the space.
“There’s a lot of really talented teams trying to build companies this way now, but a lot of the regulatory environment is still unclear for them about, ‘Is this a security? What kind of securities regulations might you trip up if you do these’ And so, there’s all these kind of different exemptions and stuff that people are trying to jump through hoops to try to make [it] work.”
To help startups navigate the space, Coinbase is going back to the drawing board by building a service provisionally called Coinbase Launch. The service aims to streamline processes, from the creation of smart contracts to the launching of token offerings and everything in between.
“It’s a way for anybody who wants to do a crypto startup to come in and say, ‘All right, I want to issue a token. Maybe I want to raise money. Maybe I just want to use it to build my community,’ and just hand hold people through that process and help them with the custody of it, help them create the smart contract, help them with the governance issues, vesting of these things if you need to distribute those to employees.”
The new service could also potentially expand the adoption of crypto, providing thousands of startups the opportunity to leverage Coinbase’s expertise and reputation to scale up their ventures.
“I think that [it’s] kind of like Stripe Atlas meets AngelList or something. I don’t know what exactly the analogy would be, but that could be a huge unlock for the crypto economy as well, to get a thousand new startups built like that.”
