Coinbase Launches App Store in Push for Developer Integration

Coinbase has launched an app store, showcasing firms that have integrated with its wallet service.

On the firm's API page, it explains that it allows submissions from applications conducting "all major bitcoin operations", that exchange bitcoin to local currency, send and request bitcoins via email or bitcoin address, and create bitcoin wallets. It also allows merchant apps, and apps that provide access to raw bitcoin network data. Microtransactions are permitted, too.

Among the first apps to be included in the app store are OSX-based wallet Hive, and Gliph, a mobile app for making bitcoin payments, both of which have integrated with Coinbase. BitTip, the Reddit bitcoin tipping app, and a Coinbase Wordpress plugin are also on the site.

And Coinbase Trader, an app that allows for the automated buying and selling of bit coins through Coinbase, is also listed.

The company did not to respond to queries about how closely those using its API would be security vetted, or any other criteria that it was using for inclusion in the store.

This appears to be part of a wider push for Coinbase to build a developer community for its bitcoin infrastructure, which exists off the block chain and includes a wallet, email-based transfers, and a merchant payment processing service. The company recently ran its BitHack competition, in which it awarded $18,000 in prizes. It announced the winners today.

The winner of that app, CoinPlanter, is an Android app that uses geotagging to let people store, share, or retrieve bitcoins based on their location. People can 'dig' while at any location to see if someone has left bitcoin to pick up. The tool, which received a $10,000 first prize, has some marketing potential for companies wanting to cash in on the geotagging craze and integrate the concept with their own campaigns.

The second prizewinner, Aircoin, got $5,000. It is a mobile app that lets people send bit coins to others nearby, using a drag and drop visual interface.

Finally, Coinery.io is an online site for selling digital products in bitcoin. The Coinbase-powered site charges no fees, it says. That site got $3,000.

None of these apps were listed in the Coinbase app store, although another entrant to the contest, Bitfluence, was listed on the app store. That service lets you use your Twitter identity to send and receive bitcoin, is listed on the site.

Coinbase has suffered from its own app store woes in the past, falling foul of Apple's notorious anti-bitcoin stance. Apple removed its mobile iOS app from the app store in November, less than a month after it was launched.