Coinbase is clearly one of the hottest cryptocurrency exchanges out there. As the largest US crypto exchange and wallet provider, it is surprising that some of its business partners are leaving the “unicorn”.
One such partner that is leaving Coinbase is none other but Barclays. The bank is no longer providing its services to the San Francisco-based company. The “divorce” has affected many Coinbase customers, although the exchange quickly found another banking partner in the face of U.K. upstart ClearBank.
Barclays is undeniably one of the most well-known names in the UK for almost all types of banking services: consumer, investment, etc. It was Barclays that connected Coinbase with the FPS or the Faster Payments Scheme in the UK.
This partnership allowed Coinbase users to transacts with the British pound instantly on the exchange’s platform. Now, that Barclays is no longer with Coinbase, the FPS feature is also down for a short time. The delay in processing British pound deposits and withdrawals will take some time to be fixed.
There are no clear reasons as to why Barclays ended the relationship with Coinbase. Some state that it is because the risk appetite of the bank has decreased, while others say that the “pilot” partnership was to run out anyway.
The new banking partner of Coinbase, ClearBank is expected to help restore the FPS feature by the end of the third quarter of 2019. According to press, Coinbase delisting zcash had everything to do with the new partner. Reportedly, ClearBank did not feel comfortable with providing support to such a privacy coin.
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