Coinbase launches iOS app to buy, sell and send bitcoin

Bitcoin digital wallet and payment processor Coinbase has launched a mobile app platform for its services on Apple iOS devices. The app is now available in the Apple App Store for free and enables users to buy, sell and send bitcoins, plus manage their wallet.

Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam says that the company's new app is another tool that allows people to more easily spend bitcoin.

"This was one more step in our mission to make bitcoin easier to use. Now that I have the iOS app, I use it to pay back my friends when I'm out and about since it's so much easier than other ways to do it," he said.

Coinbase has full US bank integration with bitcoin. Users can easily get verified with a bank account and phone number, then it is possible to move money in and out of BTC, and can have fiat in their bank account within a few days.

The Coinbase mobile app launch is just one of a number of announcements from the company in the past few months.

In July, the company announced instant bitcoin transactions for its verified customers. That followed with the creation of its SMS interface, allowing users to send bitcoin via text message. The company also recently said that it would waive for businesses any fees on the first $1m in transactions.

Ehrsam says one of Coinbase's big advantages is that it has special incentives to encourage its users to spend as well as introduce new people to the idea of bitcoin.

"Every time you send someone new bitcoin and they end up buying or selling at least one bitcoin, you each get $5, so it turns the app into a great way to introduce new people to bitcoin," he explained.

Coinbase has raised over $6m in Series A funding this year from a group of investors that include Union Square Ventures, Ribbit Capital and others. Since its founding two years ago, it has gone through the Y Combinator incubator program to now being a six-person company located in San Francisco.

The Coinbase app is only the second application with bitcoin features approved in the Apple App Store. The other is Gliph, a messaging app that allows users to attach bitcoins to recipients. Gliph recently raised $200,000 from a group of investors that included Boost VC.

In addition to consumer-based bitcoin services, Coinbase's payment processing API is being used for a number of established companies and startups like Gliph.

What do you think about Coinbase's new app? Have you tried it yet? Let us know in the comments.

Featured Image Source: Coinbase Blog