Coinbase, from YC S12, is a Bitcoin money transfer service.  Coinbase serves as a Bitcoin wallet, which is a personal virtual piggybank for saving, spending, and receiving Bitcoins.  Bitcoin is decentralized, not backed by any government, and presently lacks legal regulations or any form of deposit insurance like FDIC.  Therefore, choosing a reputable wallet provider is an important decision.

Coinbase has a goal of being the PayPal of Internet-only currency, reports AllThingsDigital.  The service claims it transfers over $1 million dollars worth of Bitcoins per month.  Coinbase offers merchant services, including hosted checkout pages, invoicing, and business .  Coinbase also recently partnered with Reddit, enabling Reddit to accept Bitcoins for its Reddit Gold premium services.

Coinbase has raised over $600k since going through Y Combinator last summer.  The company, located in San Francisco, was founded by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam.  Brian Armstrong previously managed technical projects at Airbnb.  Mr. Armstrong’s education consists of a B.A. in Economics and M.S. in Computer Science, both from Rice University in Houston.  Fred Ehrsam previously worked at Goldman Sachs.  Mr. Ehrsam has a B.S. degree in Computer Science and Economics from Duke University.