San Francisco-based Coinbase is looking to up the ante when it comes to being bitcoin users’ favorite wallet provider. Perhaps feeling pressure from Circle over on the East coast, Coinbase on Monday introduced a little something they’re calling USD wallets.
Initially available to clients residing in the states highlighted below (and listed at the bottom of this article), USD wallets will open the door to new possibilities when it comes to holding, acquiring, and selling bitcoin on the Coinbase service.
Users are able to deposit their United States dollars into their Coinbase accounts and then purchase or sell bitcoins instantly ithout having to wait for a bank transfer to complete. Moreover, users aren’t required to use a credit card for instant bitcoin buys (which has been the case right along).
Here’s how Coinbase puts it:
[blockquote style=”2″]USD Wallets let you transfer U.S. Dollars to your Coinbase Account at your convenience. You can then use those funds to purchase bitcoin instantly from Coinbase. If you do not spend the funds, or if you receive the U.S. Dollar proceeds of a bitcoin sale into your USD Wallet, you can simply withdraw the funds back to your linked bank account whenever you wish. Coinbase will not charge you to send funds to and from your USD Wallet via ACH bank transfer in the U.S.[/blockquote]
For those users eligible for USD wallets, the option should appear immediately. Users will, however, be required to have a verified account in order to make use of the feature.
Here’s a list of locations where USD wallets are available: Arkansas, California, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Washington, Wisconsin, and West Virginia.
These geographic constraints likely relate to each state’s specific financial/regulatory rules, and Coinbase says they’re “working hard” to bring the feature to even more locations.