Coinbase YC Application
Coinbase went through Y Combinator in the Summer 2012 batch as a Fintech company. Below: what the company does, who founded it, and its application to YC, reconstructed question by question in the real YC form.
- YC batch
- Summer 2012
- Industry
- FintechBanking and Exchange
- Team size
- 6112
- Status
- Public
- Launched
- 2012
Founders
Brian ArmstrongFounder/CEO
What Coinbase does
Founded in June of 2012, Coinbase is a digital currency wallet and platform where merchants and consumers can transact with new digital currencies like bitcoin, ethereum, and litecoin. Our vision is to bring more innovation, efficiency, and equality of opportunity to the world by building an open financial system. Our first step on that journey is making digital currency accessible and approachable for everyone. Two principles guide our efforts. First, be the most trusted company in our domain. Second, create user-focused products that are easier and more intuitive to use.
Coinbase's YC application, reconstructed
Y Combinator application
Coinbase, Summer 2012 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.
- Founders2
- Company7
- Progress7
- Idea4
- Equity3
- Curious2
- Batch Preference1
Company
Coinbase
Buy, sell, and manage cryptocurrencies.
A digital currency wallet and platform where consumers and merchants can transact with bitcoin as easily as using a normal bank app. We hide the hard parts (keys, security, exchange) behind a simple, trusted product so that buying and holding crypto is approachable for everyone, not just engineers.
San Francisco, USA / San Francisco, USA.
The Bay Area has the payments, security, and fintech talent we need, plus the early crypto community that will be our first users.
21 more answers in the full application
Founders, Progress, Idea, Equity, Curious, Batch Preference are in the full version. Create a free account to open it in YC Insights, next to every other YC batch.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this the real Coinbase YC application?
No. Y Combinator keeps submitted applications private. This is a reconstruction: the real YC form questions, answered from Coinbase's public data (launch notes, founder backgrounds, product description). It shows how a company like Coinbase would present itself to YC, not the text they submitted.
What YC batch was Coinbase in?
Coinbase was part of the Y Combinator Summer 2012 batch.
Who founded Coinbase?
Coinbase was founded by Brian Armstrong.
What does Coinbase do?
Buy, sell, and manage cryptocurrencies.
How do I read the full reconstructed application?
Create a free Round Funded account. The full 26-answer version of Coinbase's application, and every other YC batch, is in YC Insights.
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