“An Open Financial System”

It’s under a week before I start as a software engineering intern at Coinbase, and I thought it would be worth writing some about my “why” behind the decision to go there. It all centers around the company’s mission:

Our mission is to create an open financial system for the world.

An open financial system is one that is not controlled by any one country or company (just like the internet did for distributing information). We think this is the highest leverage way to bring about more economic freedom, innovation, efficiency, and equality of opportunity in the world.

The potential of cryptocurrency is to bring the freedom of having a bank account to the 39% of the world who don’t have access to this basic financial service. Crypto allows anyone to transact globally, not just those who live in first world countries. Crypto provides the freedom to control your own money, instead of having to trust a third party. Ultimately crypto helps create a more equitable world for those who have traditionally been marginalized, driving innovation worldwide. This is a mission I can get behind.

I’ll be working on Coinbase Commerce, a new way to accept cryptocurrency payments. It allows anyone in the world to accept cryptocurrency in exchange for a good or service. This opens new economic opportunities to new an existing and new business owners that want to do business with consumers who want to do something with their cryptocurrency besides hold it as an investment.

For any friends in the San Francisco area that I haven’t seen in a while, I’d love to connect. I’ll be in town starting Friday through the rest of the summer.

This in no way represents the official opinion of Coinbase or Coinbase Commerce. Opinions expressed are my own.