I've been ranting for a while how if CoinBase doesn't adopt SegWit and Lightning network soon, they are going to become Cryptosaurus-Rex.... well my complaints have been addressed finally!
Dan Romero, VP and GM of CoinBase, second only to Mr. Brian Armstrong reports on Medium that CoinBase does in fact plan to implement SegWit in 2018. I really wanted to hear that they were moving forward with implementation, but realistically I'm just glad to have it posted somewhere on a major forum that SegWit is on the roadmap (figures CoinBase uses Medium, not STEEM, they are always riding the slow horse).
In his post, Dan explains that since they "store billions of dollars worth of bitcoin on behalf of customers" (now probably only hundreds of millions, but whose counting?) making any changes to the infrastructure of the CoinBase platform will have far reaching effects. Dan, I don't doubt that buddy, but still no excuse for taking this long to make even a statement on the matter, all those "billions" considered...
In my opinion, it's a day late and a dollar (or $1B) short! CoinBase had their run all 2017, they get what they got.
They charged huge fees to compensate for their poor management and the market growth was large enough to cover these mistakes in profit. Post correction, that won't fly in a bear market! Robinhood, BitSQ, and others that offer an entry point to transfer FIAT for crypto will easily find methods to be more efficient than CoinBase. They are tryng to adapt, but they may be too late. idk.
CoinBase took my cryptovirginity. They were the popular high school senior and I was a new freshman just trying to get into the party. Yes maybe it was a little rough and shady, but dam I'm glad I made it to the party, because now I'm here to stay! CoinBase will always be able to look back on their glory season, but I'm sure a new up and coming underclassman will soon dethrone them. I can still hear them screaming "O'Doyle rules!!!" as they drive over the cliff...