Crypto exchange giant Coinbase has bought BRD- a crypto wallet startup. The move was made in an effort to enhance its self-custody capabilities. Meanwhile, the wallet’s native token BRD has jumped over 720% in a single day.
In a statement addressing the BRD community that was published on Wednesday, co-founders Adam Traidman and Aaron Voisine revealed that the BRD team will be continuing their work at Coinbase, where they will “work to bring the power of decentralization to even more users around the globe.”
Coinbase confirmed the news on Twitter writing, “The team brings deep expertise in self-custody for crypto wallets, which will help Wallet enable more people to safely and securely access the decentralized world of crypto.”
The BRD team also announced that users will have the option to move to the Coinbase Wallet in the future, and that this will include a “special gift” for them. They did not give any further details as to what the gift will be.
“At this time, nothing will change in the BRD wallet app and as always, your funds are safe and secure,” the team added.
BRD started as an early player in the mobile crypto wallet space, launching in 2014. However, the company inked partnerships with a number of crypto exchanges over the years, adding functionalities like the ability to buy, sell, and swap digital assets.
At the beginning of July 2020, the app had just 550,000 monthly active users. By October, that figure surged to over six million. This was partly because of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to their website, they now have over 8m customers around the world.
The BRD token has jumped 724% in the past 24 hours, following the announcement of the deal. The coin was at $0.16 before surging to $1.37 overnight.
