Coinbase is hiring to build an app for its professional trading platform

Coinbase, the U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange operator, is seeking talent to build out a mobile-application for its professional trading platform, according to people familiar with the matter. 

Coinbase, which announced Tuesday it closed a $300 million fundraise, is now valued at more than $8 billion. The firm has been expanding at a breakneck rate since the beginning of 2018, breaking its institutional exchange GDAX into a number of operations in May, including Coinbase Markets, Coinbase Prime, and Coinbase Pro. The latter service, Coinbase Pro, is aimed at professional traders, the firm says. Now, the firm is looking to launch a mobile app for the platform. Already, Coinbase has a mobile app for its consumer brokerage, which allows users to buy cryptos such as bitcoin and bitcoin cash. At the height of bitcoin mania in 2017, Coinbase was among the most popular finance apps in terms of downloads, according to App Annie data. But the bear market brought its download ranking to new lows over the summer. 

Coinbase is advertising job openings for an iOS Engineer and Android engineer to build the new app. "The future of digital currency is on mobile," the ads said. "This is where you come in."

A person familiar with Coinbase's business told The Block the new app has been a priority for the firm. But the company previously didn't have enough mobile developers in-house to devote significant time to the project.