TechFlow reports that in response to claims stating "Coinbase Commerce no longer accepts payments using self-custodied Bitcoin wallets or other applications," Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong clarified on Twitter that Commerce now uses a new EVM-based payment protocol, enabling users to pay from any self-custodied wallet. He expressed belief that crypto payments will primarily occur on Layer 2 blockchains in the future and emphasized Coinbase's aim to help make this vision a reality.
Currently, the fastest checkout method on Commerce is via any ERC-20 token—such as Ethereum, USDC, wrapped Bitcoin, and thousands of other ERC-20 tokens—on Layer 2 blockchains like Base and Polygon. As an alternative, customers with a Coinbase account can pay directly through their Coinbase account, which includes the option to pay directly in Bitcoin.
In addition, Coinbase is actively integrating the Lightning Network and hopes to eventually enable commercial payments over Lightning. The company believes that cryptocurrency payments for online transactions won't truly go mainstream until moving off Layer 1, significantly reducing transaction fees and confirmation times. Coinbase is working hard to accelerate the arrival of this future.
