Cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase is getting into international money transfers, joining a mammoth market dominated by big companies like Western Union, Bloomberg reported Tuesday (Feb. 15).
Coinbase is rolling out a free pilot program for sending crypto funds to friends and family in Mexico.
Receivers will be able to convert the funds to pesos at various locations or invest in a Coinbase account. After March 31 there will be a fee. Coinbase didn’t say what the cost will be, though the company did say it’d be “25-50% cheaper” than usual cross-border transfers.
“We recognize this is a global issue. And while we’re starting in Mexico, over time we’ll consider other regions where customers face similar challenges,” Coinbase said in a blog post.
By getting into remittances, Coinbase aims to diversify its revenues, as volatility in crypto has sent trading volumes on exchanges plummeting. Coinbase will also launch a market in nonfungible tokens (NFT) and will be looking into decentralized finance.
Despite the tumultuous nature of crypto, Coinbase did see record traffic to its site in the wake of its ad at the Super Bowl, PYMNTS wrote.
Read more: Coinbase Sees Record Visits After Super Bowl Ad
Coinbase had to throttle traffic because of the ads, seeing a spike in outages around 7:20 p.m. Sunday after the commercial aired.
The commercial was simple – a floating QR code that would take those who scan it to Coinbase’s page and offer them $15 in bitcoin for signing up.
The Super Bowl had a number of ads related to cryptocurrency this year. FTX had a spot, too, which featured Larry David dismissing other big innovations like the wheel, indoor plumbing and electricity — alongside the FTX app. After that, a voiceover says “Don’t be like Larry. Don’t miss out on the next big thing.”
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