Treasury/Projects/2024/Coinbase Organization Account

Coinbase now supports organization accounts. We're creating one, to manage our bitcoin in the same way we did before.

Who, What, When

I'm working on fully authorizing the coinbase org account. Uploading verification docs, 8 in total.

Once it's up, the old-old-old treasurer will transfer funds.

Why

(For the curious and the confused, coinbase holds the funds in their wallet[s], and will perform actions on our behalf, audited and under authority of the organization. It's likely better audit and identity tools than exist for banking.) This is called a custodial wallet, as in Coinbase is the custodian of our wallet.

• article on this difference: https://www.coinbase.com/learn/crypto-basics/what-is-the-difference-between-coinbase-and-coinbase-wallet
• glossary entry: https://help.coinbase.com/en/coinbase/getting-started/crypto-education/glossary/custodial-wallet
• enumerated points of comparison: https://help.coinbase.com/en/wallet/getting-started/what-s-the-difference-between-coinbase-com-and-wallet

It is not a self-custody wallet, which would be inappropriate for a large organization that sometimes struggles with governance.

Since coinbase is holding our funds, like a bank, the funds are held in their wallets, and we have control over where to direct the funds.

Where & How: Status & Process

I'll share other documents share with Coinbase for KYC, not containing PII, here in the near future.