Coinbase joins Square’s crypto patent effort COPA

Coinbase is the latest company to join Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA), a consortium developed by Square to increase access to crypto technology through the creation of a collaborative patent library, according to an announcement published Thursday. 

Square announced the creation of the consortium in September. Since then, 18 companies have joined the initiative, including Satoshi Labs, Kraken, Protocol Labs and Blockstream. 

COPA also announced the board appointments of Steve Lee, Square Crypto Lead, and Dan Robinson, Paradigm Research Partner. Independent board members are individuals considered to be “well-known for their contributions to the advancement of cryptocurrency initiatives,” per the announcement. 

“As the crypto economy continues to grow, we believe it is important to help empower all projects building towards an open financial system,” said COPA Board Member and Senior Counsel at Coinbase Brittany Cuthbert. “We look forward to working alongside the members of COPA to create a foundational patent shield for our industry.”

Through the consortium, Square aims to make crypto technology accessible and available for everyone to use. COPA members pledge to never use their crypto patents against anyone, except for defensive purposes, making these patents free for all to use. COPA also creates a collaborative patent library where any developer can share their crypto patents and develop more technologies in the space.