Coinbase's Wallet App Is Getting Bitcoin Support This Week

Coinbase users will soon be able to directly control their bitcoin holdings from the firm’s Wallet app.

The San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange announced the news in a blog post Wednesday, saying that Coinbase Wallet will be updated over the next week to add bitcoin support to all users on iOS and Android.

Bitcoin support will be “activated by default," Coinbase said, meaning users will just have to tap “receive” tab in the app and select "bitcoin" to receive the cryptocurrency directly in the wallet.

Coinbase Wallet already supports ethereum (ETH), ethereum classic (ETH) and "over 100,000" different ERC-20 tokens and ERC-721 collectibles built on ethereum, the exchange said, adding that it is also working on to add support for bitcoin cash (BCH), litecoin (LTC) and other major cryptos to its wallet going forward.

Coinbase explained that with the main Coinbase app or Coinbase.com, users can buy cryptocurrencies and the exchange itself stores the keys centrally. But with Coinbase Wallet app, users safeguard their own private keys, which are encrypted using Secure Enclave technology for better security.

The app supports both SegWit and legacy bitcoin addresses for backwards compatibility.

Coinbase continues to add new and expanded services. Just yesterday, the exchange announced that its customers in the 32 EU and European Free Trade Association countries can now make withdrawals into their PayPal accounts. The feature has been live in the U.S. for some time.

Last month, Coinbase added support for cross-border wire transfers for institutional clients in Asia, the U.K. and Europe. And it integrated with tax-filing platform TurboTax, offered by Intuit Consumer Tax Group, to help U.S. clients file taxes on their cryptos.

Wallet image via Shutterstock