Coinbase Wallet Tap-to-Pay is expected to provide a crypto-friendly alternative to Cash App, Venmo, PayPal and other fast payment firms.
Coinbase Wallet lead and Base founder Jesse Pollak announced the upcoming rollout of the “tap-to-pay” feature at the DevCon conference in Bangkok on Nov. 13.
According to him, the new service is undergoing the first ‘alpha’ phase of formal testing internally. However, the development pace is quite rapid, with a full launch expected within a few months. By the end of 2025, Coinbase’s non-custodial cryptocurrency wallet with the new feature is expected to be integrated across 50 countries, where financial institutions will be connecting user bank accounts to Coinbase Wallet.
The tap-to-pay option enables users to make quick crypto payments similar to mobile P2P payment apps like Venmo and Cash App. It is a faster, global payment option for both online and in-store transactions.
“We want people to be moving their saving, their spending, their investing onchain, because it’s going to give better rates, better interest, better economic outcomes, better outcomes for merchants because it’s a faster, better, cheaper, more global economy that works for everyone.”
Jesse Pollak, creator of the Layer 2 blockchain Base, Coinbase Wallet lead
Bank account off-ramps will enable users to receive payments in stablecoins, such as USD Coin (USDC) or Tether (USDT), which they can easily convert into their local currency. This approach empowers stable value transfers, making it easier for users to both handle crypto payments more efficiently and access their funds directly in traditional fiat currencies.
Additionally, Coinbase plans to improve Layer-2 interoperability, facilitating seamless cross-platform transactions among Ethereum’s Layer-2 solutions. The solution to existing issues is expected to take about six months. It would enable token transfers between Base and other Ethereum Layer-2 networks, such as Arbitrum One, Optimism’s mainnet, and Blast. Such an upgrade would expand potential use cases within a secure ecosystem that currently protects over $42 billion in value.
Furthermore, Pollak stated that Base plans to integrate with all Layer-1 networks as well, enabling users to store their assets on Base while conducting transactions across various platforms.
Coinbase is continuously improving its wallet service. The new Coinbase Wallet web app launched this July. It enables users to connect multiple self-custodial wallets and access all their on-chain assets, including crypto, NFTs, and DeFi positions, in one place. The connected wallets may be used to trade over 2 million tokens across eight different chains: Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, Optimism, BSC, Polygon, Avalanche, and Solana.
