Coinbase Wallet Now Allows Users to Send Coins to Usernames

Coinbase Wallet will now let its users send cryptocurrency payments to usernames of other users. This will make payments easier and more convenient for the exchange’s users.

Why is the facility important?

Cryptocurrency addresses are considered secure, but they consist of a long string of numbers and characters that are difficult to remember. This makes crypto adoption difficult and increases the chances of mistakes by users. By allowing Coinbase users to make payments using usernames, the exchange is simplifying the process of making transactions. It also ensures that a small mistake in writing long crypto addresses doesn’t make users lose their coins.

With simple usernames like @abcxyz, users can forego the standard 42-character wallet address strings and make payments uncomplicated. As soon as a user initiates a transaction to a username, the platform will search for its database to find an address registered with that username and fulfill the transaction. Coinbase Product Lead Sid Coelho-Prabhu said that this feature would make the user experience friendlier and easier and make it hard to send coins to the wrong recipient.

Coinbase CEO’s Bitcoin email patent

Coinbase isn’t stopping at username payments. It has integrated with the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) as well, which will allow users to use their hostnames or domain names as identifiers within the Ethereum network. This allows users to send cryptocurrencies directly to a domain name instead of using Ethereum addresses.

The exchange may have other plans to make crypto transactions easier for the users. In December last year, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong won a patent to develop a new system that allows users to make Bitcoin payments via emails. The email address is connected to the hot wallets of the users, which helps in making payments simpler and more efficient. This system helps in reducing the chances of sending payments to the wrong receiver by mistake.

The original cryptocurrency wallets on the Bitcoin blockchain do not have any provisions for bringing coins back once they are sent to an address. This means that payments sent to the wrong addresses could not be recovered even if one tried.