Latest news with #JessePollak
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Asia Morning Briefing: How Will Coinbase Rebrand Its Wallet?
Welcome to Asia Morning Briefing, a daily summary of top stories during U.S. hours and an overview of market moves and analysis. For a detailed overview of U.S. markets, see CoinDesk's Crypto Daybook Americas. Rest in Peace, Coinbase Wallet. No, the app itself isn't going away, but it is getting a new name. On its X profile, its name is crossed out and replaced with a 'TBA' and a few question marks. "There's plenty of speculation about what it means, but I'm leaning toward 'The Base App.' That would fit the idea of Base unveiling a range of in-app experiences directly inside its wallet," Bradley Park, a Seoul-based analyst with DNTV Research, told CoinDesk in an interview. Base Creator Jesse Pollak was tapped to lead Coinbase's Wallet team last October, which lends credence to Park's theory. In an interview on the sidelines of Devcon in Bangkok last year, Pollak played up the decentralization of Base. It could be that the wallet is due for a rebrand to highlight its decentralized nature and distance from Coinbase itself. It's not the first time Coinbase has re-branded its wallet. Originally it was launched as 'Toshi', and in 2018 that name was dropped in favor of Coinbase Wallet. ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood says Ethereum is 'proposing the right moves for scalability and privacy to maintain its lead in the institutional world,' as the Ethereum Foundation unveils a roadmap to bring zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) directly to its base layer. While Wood acknowledged she does not grasp all the technical details, her endorsement highlights growing institutional confidence in Ethereum's long-term vision. The proposed upgrade would let validators verify cryptographic proofs of block validity rather than re-executing each transaction, dramatically reducing computational overhead. These proofs would be generated by block builders or third-party zk-prover networks and verified in under 10 seconds, using hardware that costs less than $100,000 and consumes no more than 10 kilowatts of power. The plan would boost network throughput and decentralization, but comes with tradeoffs. Shifting the burden of computation from validators to provers could introduce liveness risks if those provers go offline or collude. The Ethereum Foundation aims to mitigate these risks through prover diversity, protocol hardening, and eventually enabling at-home participants to contribute to proving. If successful, this would make Ethereum the first major blockchain to integrate ZKPs at the protocol layer, reinforcing its position as the dominant infrastructure for both decentralized applications and institutional adoption. Combined with cheaper data availability via blobs and advances in zk-rollups, Ethereum is positioning itself as the chain most ready for scale. BTC: Bitcoin rallied 1% to nearly $119K over the weekend amid triple-normal trading volumes, while BlackRock's IBIT crossed $80 billion in crypto assets under management, signaling strong institutional demand despite a late-session profit-taking reversal. ETH: Ethereum surged past $3,000 for the first time since February, rising 3% amid record institutional inflows and heightened trading volumes that signaled strong bullish momentum. Gold: Gold climbed to $3,371 as central banks continue their historic accumulation spree, over 1,000 tonnes annually since 2022, fueling a bullish breakout above key technical levels and setting sights on $3,578 and beyond. Nikkei 225: Asia-Pacific markets opened lower Monday as investors reacted to President Trump's surprise weekend announcement of 30% tariffs on the EU and Mexico starting August 1, with Japan's Nikkei 225 falling 0.33%. Chart of the Week: 'Hyperbitcoinization' May Not Be Just Maximalist Fantasy Anymore (CoinDesk) State of Crypto: Previewing Congress' 'Crypto Week' (CoinDesk) Coinbase hires pseudonymous poster AlexOnchain as first 'Crypto Twitter lead' in bid to expand social media presence (The Block) Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
CNBC
28-06-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Stablecoins go mainstream: Why banks and credit card firms are issuing their own crypto tokens
A $44 billion IPO. A Senate bill with bipartisan momentum. And now, a wave of Fortune 500 firms launching crypto tokens of their own. Stablecoins — once a niche corner of the cryptocurrency world — are entering the corporate and policy mainstream, potentially reshaping how money moves in the United States and around the world. "Many of the users out there today are not aware of stablecoins, or not interested in stablecoins, and they should not be," said Jose Fernandez da Ponte, PayPal's SVP of blockchain, crypto and digital currencies. "It should just be a way in which you move value, and in many cases, is going to be an infrastructure layer." For corporations, stablecoins are an opportunity to slash millions in transaction fees and turbocharge payment infrastructure with instantaneous settlement. USDC issuer Circle's long-awaited public debut exposed a wave of pent-up demand for digital dollars as investors sent the stock soaring as much as 750% in June. Partnerships, and competition, quickly followed. Coinbase announced a deal with e-commerce platform Shopify to bring USDC payments to merchants. Payments firm Fiserv announced a stablecoin to pair with the 90 billion transactions it processes every year. "We're entering the utility phase right now, where the technology has matured. It's gotten fast, it's gotten cheap," said Jesse Pollak, head of base and wallet at Coinbase. "It's gotten easy to use, and that's leading to real-world adoption across businesses and consumers." Base is Coinbase's Ethereum layer-2 network, designed to make blockchain applications faster, cheaper, and more accessible to developers and users. Merchants are a particular focus for stablecoins, as payment processing fees for these businesses totaled a record $187.2 billion in 2024, according to the Nilson Report. Payment companies are looking to fend off potential disruption by stablecoin issuers. Mastercard this week announced support for four stablecoins on its Multi-Token Network. The private blockchain is targeted toward institutions and promises 24-hour settlement. Visa's CEO told CNBC the payment processor is modernizing its infrastructure with the help of stablecoins. "Visa and MasterCard are leaning into the disruption," said Nic Carter, founding partner at Castle Island Ventures. "They're trying to disrupt themselves, so they seem to be ahead of the curve." JPMorgan took a slightly different approach to the crypto token boom on Wall Street. The financial giant launched a token backed by commercial bank deposits rather than U.S. dollars. JPMorgan's Naveen Mallela, global co-head of Kinexys, the bank's blockchain unit, told CNBC the JPMD token would allow for round-the-clock settlement for institutional clients looking for faster, cheaper transactions while staying connected to the traditional banking system. The boom in crypto adoption on Wall Street is bolstered by growing support in Washington. The Senate passed its framework of rules for stablecoins, called the GENIUS Act. The bill includes guidelines for consumer protections, reserve requirements for issuers, and anti-money laundering guidance. Stablecoins and other cryptocurrencies have faced criticism for their use in illicit activity, and some Democrats argue the bill doesn't do enough to address those concerns. Those lawmakers also argue the bill doesn't curtail conflicts of interest, including the recent launch of a stablecoin tied to President Donald Trump through World Liberty Financial. The crypto-focused firm run by his family is behind the dollar-pegged token USD1. When asked about Trump's ties to crypto projects in his name, the White House told CNBC there are no conflicts of interest and the president's assets are in a trust managed by his children. "I think it was a mistake for Trump to have a Trump-affiliated DeFi project issue a stablecoin. I think that really set back his stablecoin legislative agenda," Carter said. "I think we could do it a lot more in terms of tackling these conflicts of interest. And I completely understand the Democrats when they try and weed this out." Watch the video above to learn why corporate giants are racing to launch their own crypto tokens
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
JPMorgan Introduces USD Deposit Token on Coinbase's Base Blockchain
U.S. banking giant JPMorgan has announced the pilot of a permissioned USD deposit token called JPMD on Base, the layer 2 Ethereum network built by listed exchange Coinbase (COIN). Earlier this week, the bank filed a trademark application for a crypto-focused platform named JPMD, designed to to offer services such as trading, exchange, transfer, and payment services for digital assets, as well as issuance of digital assets. The institution-focused JPMD, an alternative to stablecoins for the bank's clients, marks the first deployment of JPMorgan's Kinexys distributed ledger technology studio on a public blockchain, according to a press release. Banks and other enterprise players are crowding into the stablecoin space ahead of soon-to-land rules around dollar-pegged tokens in the U.S. JPMorgan garnered lots of attention for its so-called JPM Coin, a token for settling the cash leg of trades on its private blockchain, then called Onyx Digital Assets. 'We are thrilled to see one of the world's most prominent banks come onchain,' said Jesse Pollak, Creator of Base and VP of Engineering at Coinbase. 'Base offers sub-second, sub-cent, 24/7 settlement, which makes fund transfers between J.P. Morgan institutional clients nearly instant. Coinbase is a proud J.P. Morgan institutional client, and this pilot combines the credibility of both J.P. Morgan and Base to help bring institutional money into a more global economy.'
Arabian Post
13-06-2025
- Business
- Arabian Post
Shopify Launches USDC Payment Pilot via Coinbase‑Stripe Base
E‑commerce platform Shopify will launch a pilot in late June allowing select U.S. and European merchants to accept USDC stablecoin payments, marking its first native integration of crypto payments into the platform-wide setup. Developed in partnership with Coinbase and integrated through Stripe, the initiative leverages Coinbase's Base blockchain and supports essential e‑commerce features, including refunds, chargebacks and delayed payment capture. The opt‑out model means USDC acceptance will be enabled by default for participating merchants, who can also access up to 0.5 per cent cashback on USDC transactions. Shopify CEO Tobias Lütke, also a Coinbase board member, highlighted that the platform aspires to expand the pilot to all merchants across the U.S. and Europe by end‑2025. Coinbase head of blockchain Jesse Pollak described the level of integration as 'holy crap' compared to existing solutions, noting that the custom protocol built on Base addresses operational challenges previously unmet by third‑party crypto plug‑ins. Stripe's role is central in embedding stablecoin functionality into Shopify Payments, enabling merchants to receive USDC or convert funds into local currency seamlessly. ADVERTISEMENT Stablecoins such as USDC offer the stability of a dollar‑pegged asset while enabling near‑instant, low‑cost transactions via Layer‑2 networks like Base. Stripe cites a surge in monthly stablecoin payment volume from $2 billion to $6.3 billion over the past two years. Shopify's integration now brings that rail within reach of over a million merchants based in 34 countries. The e‑commerce industry's attention to stablecoins has intensified, with major financial institutions and tech companies—including Visa, PayPal, JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, Apple, Meta, Airbnb and Google—either building or experimenting with stablecoin infrastructure. Shopify's entry at this scale signals a significant shift in digital commerce towards crypto‑native settlement methods. Operationally, the rollout addresses common e‑commerce pain points. The bespoke smart contract protocol supports standard payment flows—authorisation, capture, refund, tax processing and inventory reservation—aligning cryptocurrency transactions with merchant back‑end operations. Merchants can choose to receive USDC directly into their crypto wallets or automatically convert to local currency with zero foreign‑exchange fees. Additionally, U.S. customers will start receiving a 1 per cent cashback incentive on USDC payments later this year. Industry analysts suggest that embedding stablecoin capability into mainstream platforms like Shopify could accelerate global digital currency adoption. It lowers technical barriers for merchants and broadens spending options for customers holding crypto assets. While credit cards and traditional rails remain dominant, the integration demonstrates that stablecoin payments are maturing into a reliable option for commercial transactions. The pilot will effectively test merchant and consumer appetite for crypto payments on a large scale. Pending successful outcomes, Shopify plans to roll out access to all merchants using Shopify Payments across the U.S. and Europe by the end of 2025, with potential further extension globally.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Shopify partners with Coinbase and Stripe in landmark stablecoin deal
Big Tech's fever for stablecoins won't stop. The e-commerce giant Shopify announced Thursday that it was rolling out stablecoin payments to all users on its platform later this year in its largest crypto play yet. The publicly traded tech company lets merchants—including vintage clothes sellers, cosmetics businesses, and electronics companies—set up their own online marketplaces. By late June, Shopify will let a select group of users accept payments in USDC, a stablecoin issued by the crypto company Circle, which recently had one of the year's hottest IPOs. 'In our own philosophical framework, we are extremely aligned with everything that crypto stands for,' Tobias Lütke, the CEO of Shopify and a Coinbase board member, said onstage at a Coinbase conference on Thursday. Shopify will then gradually expand access to merchants across its network in the U.S. and Europe before opening up stablecoin payments to every merchant who uses its platform. The e-commerce company worked with Coinbase to develop a payments protocol to handle chargebacks, refunds, and other intricacies of retail payments on Coinbase's blockchain, Base. It also collaborated with fintech giant Stripe, one of Shopify's payments processors, to integrate stablecoins into the e-commerce company's existing software stack. 'I think other payment processors will look at what Shopify is building and be like, 'Holy crap,'' Jesse Pollak, a Coinbase executive who oversees the crypto exchange's wallet and blockchain divisions, told Fortune. Shopify's plunge into crypto comes as stablecoins, or cryptocurrencies pegged to assets like the U.S. dollar, become one of the buzziest sectors outside of AI in Silicon Valley. Rather than wait days for a bank wire to clear, advocates say that stablecoins reduce cross-border transfer fees and speed up transactions. Tech giants like Meta, Apple, X, Airbnb, and Google have taken notice and have all been in talks with crypto companies to explore stablecoin integrations. Moreover, the Senate is poised to pass legislation that regulates the crypto assets. And Stripe has acquired two crypto startups in the past year as it looks to carve out its own crypto payments strategy. 'This will be the beginning of a lot of dominoes falling,' Pollak, the Coinbase executive, told Fortune, in reference to Shopify's own stablecoin play. That being said, this isn't the first time the publicly traded e-commerce company has dipped its toes into crypto. Shopify, headquartered in Ottawa, has long let third-party software developers like and Strike provide plug-ins for merchants to accept cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and even USDC for payment. However, these integrations came from developers outside Shopify and were opt-in, meaning that merchants had to explicitly choose to integrate crypto payments into their online marketplaces. Shopify's most recent stablecoin play is opt-out. Merchants will have to adjust their settings to not accept payments in USDC, a Coinbase spokesperson told Fortune. Moreover, the payments protocol Coinbase developed with Shopify is the product of executives and developers from both companies collaborating over the past nine months, Pollak said. Shopify will give merchants who accept USDC up to 0.5% cash back in the U.S. and other countries, and it plans to also give customers who decide to pay with USDC an unspecified percentage of cash back later this year. This story was originally featured on
