Hi, I'm Chris Thompson, and today I’m talking about Coinbase is making moves in the crypto and finance worlds that will have a lasting impact on the average American consumer. Let’s get into it.

Coinbase has recently forged a partnership with Shopify to integrate USDC payments for merchants, a move designed to streamline digital currency adoption in e-commerce. This collaboration, which leverages Coinbase's Base network, allows customers to pay with USDC from various crypto wallets and offers U.S. shoppers 1% cash back when paying in USDC. Merchants, by default, receive payments in their local currency, avoiding foreign transaction fees, though they can opt to receive USDC directly.

Coinbase has also been busy enhancing its subscription service, Coinbase One, by partnering with American Express to issue a Coinbase AmEx credit card. This new Coinbase One Card will allow members to earn up to 4% back in Bitcoin on purchases, with a new Basic tier costing $4.99 dollars per month or $49.99 dollars annually, which includes zero trading fees on up to $500 dollars in monthly trades and a 4.5% APY on the first $10,000 dollars of USDC holdings.

While I love the news that Coinbase is partnering with Shopify to integrate USDC as a form of payments for consumers, I’m not as enamored with their partnership with American Express to issue a credit card. The thing that bothers me about it is that consumers have to subscribe to Coinbase One, their subscription service that provides customers with a range of benefits, including zero trading fees, enhanced customer support, and increased account protection. For me these “benefits” should be a given, and a part of all of their customer’s experience with the platform. You should have to pay to not be charged trading fees. Stock exchanges got rid of charging trading fees long ago, and the same will ultimately happen with fees on crypto trading.

What I do like about this deal between Coinbase and American Express is their idea of providing 4% back in the form of Bitcoin on all purchases. As a family of 4 that charged nearly everything on our credit card, and then pays it off at the end of the month, this could add up to a lot of Bitcoin earned each year. So if Chase Sapphire were to offer this as a reward someday you’d have my attention. Until then, I’m going to continue sitting comfortably on the sidelines and watch how Coinbase’s partnership with American Express turns out.

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