Coinbase Buys BRD Crypto Wallet Firm to Accelerate Web3 Adoption

Crypto wallet startup BRD has been bought by Coinbase, according to a BRD blog post Wednesday (Nov. 24), which co-founders Adam Traidman and Aaron Voisine say will accelerate the company’s decentralization goals.

The post notes that “at this time, nothing will change in the BRD wallet app” and reassures users that their funds are “safe and secure.”

According to a tweet from the Coinbase Wallet account, the BRD team will help with the adoption of web3, and the team’s expertise in crypto wallets will help Coinbase with its crypto safety and security needs.

The post also notes that in the future, BRD wallet users can choose to migrate to self custody with Coinbase Wallet, “which will include a special gift.”

That said, the startup’s utility token is facing an unknown future. The token trades under $BRD and is part of the customer loyalty program.

Coinbase has been debuting new tools to help boost education about crypto, and allow the community to share what they know and be interactive with the effort.

The company said customers have been “looking for ways to better understand crypto both as an investment and as an app platform,” but Coinbase acknowledged that sometimes it can be difficult to keep ahead of all the news.

The company said it would “self-empower” the community and make it “simpler and more fun” to share information on portfolios and learn about things like new assets.

Coinbase already had some educational tools, and its new tools will let users share information more easily, which will share allocation percentages and not a user’s portfolio balance.

Users will be able to choose what they share, or if they share at all — users can even switch between sharing or not at their whim.

As crypto has always been volatile, Coinbase could see the third quarter lately as “either a harbinger or a missed opportunity,” PYMNTS wrote recently.

Read more: Coinbase Tells Investors to Remain Calm, Focus on Long Term As Trading Drops 29%

Coinbase co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong remains optimistic, saying in early November that there was a “really strong and accelerating pace” of crypto around the world.