Coinbase Partners with Vogogo, Expands to Canada

Bitcoin wallet, exchange and merchant services provider Coinbase has partnered with payment solutions provider Vogogo, enabling its expansion to Canada.

Calgary-based Vogogo aims to take on the load of Risk Management Risk Management One of the most common terms utilized by brokers, risk management refers to the practice of identifying potential risks in advance. Most commonly, this also involves the analysis of risk and the undertaking of precautionary steps to both mitigate and prevent for such risk.Such efforts are essential for brokers and venues in the finance industry, given the potential for fallout in the face of unforeseen events or crises. Given a more tightly regulated environment across nearly every asset class, One of the most common terms utilized by brokers, risk management refers to the practice of identifying potential risks in advance. Most commonly, this also involves the analysis of risk and the undertaking of precautionary steps to both mitigate and prevent for such risk.Such efforts are essential for brokers and venues in the finance industry, given the potential for fallout in the face of unforeseen events or crises. Given a more tightly regulated environment across nearly every asset class, Read this Term, compliance and security for Payments Payments One of the bases of mediums of exchange in the modern world, a payment constitutes the transfer of a legal currency or equivalent from one party in exchange for goods or services to another entity. The payments industry has become a fixture of modern commerce, though the players involved and means of exchange have dramatically shifted over time.In particular, a party making a payment is referred to as a payer, with the payee reflecting the individual or entity receiving the payment. Most commonl One of the bases of mediums of exchange in the modern world, a payment constitutes the transfer of a legal currency or equivalent from one party in exchange for goods or services to another entity. The payments industry has become a fixture of modern commerce, though the players involved and means of exchange have dramatically shifted over time.In particular, a party making a payment is referred to as a payer, with the payee reflecting the individual or entity receiving the payment. Most commonl Read this Term processed, bridging the gap between the fiat banking and digital currency worlds and allowing exchanges to focus more on their business strategies.

It has become a go-to destination for Canadian bitcoin exchanges, which have traditionally had a tough time maintaining banking relationships. More recently, it helped crypto exchanges Kraken and Bitstamp make inroads into the country.

Coinbase's services had until now only been available in the US (in selected states) and several European countries. The partnership with Vogogo will allow residents to hook up a Canadian bank account, deposit CAD into a Coinbase wallet (via electronic funds transfer or Interac Online), and buy bitcoin either through Coinbase's brokerage service or through Coinbase Exchange.

To celebrate the launch, Coinbase is waiving the fees for its brokerage service to Canadian customers until September 6. The company is also sponsoring the 'Hack the North' hackathon at the University of Waterloo, where it will award the group that makes best use of its API with $1,000 in bitcoin and guaranteed interviews for an engineering internship.

Vogogo, which secured $12.5 million in funding in June, is publicly traded on the TSX Venture Exchange. After soaring by over 300% to over $4.00 within a few months late last year, it has since given up almost all of its gains, currently trading at $1.00. News of the partnership has not helped the shares, which are trading lower by 1%. Its market cap is currently CAD$48 million.