Smartling > Case Studies > Coinbase's Localization Strategy: Redefining Crypto Language for Global Growth

Coinbase's Localization Strategy: Redefining Crypto Language for Global Growth

Technology Category

Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Blockchain
Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP)

Applicable Functions

Quality Assurance
Sales & Marketing

Use Cases

Leasing Finance Automation
Machine Translation

Services

Testing & Certification

About The Customer

Coinbase is a leading cryptocurrency platform that provides a digital marketplace for buying, selling, and storing digital currency. It is a pioneer in the crypto industry, often setting precedents for translating terms in certain ways. Coinbase's mission is to increase economic freedom by providing access to crypto. To achieve this, the company has a global strategy that involves translating their content into multiple languages, ensuring that it is relevant and resonating for various markets. Coinbase is committed to ensuring that their messaging is clear and usable, and that more people have access to the tools they need to trade and dive into the world of crypto.

The Challenge

Coinbase, a leading cryptocurrency platform, faced the challenge of localizing and translating its content for global markets. The crypto industry is constantly evolving, with English terminology used to describe crypto concepts frequently changing. This posed a significant challenge for Coinbase's localization experts, who had to redefine existing language and translate it at scale. The company also had to consider the unique jargon of the crypto world, ensuring that their glossaries and style guides included these terms. Another challenge was the translation of certain terms, like 'wallet', which have different meanings in the crypto world and can have varying connotations in different languages. Coinbase also had to ensure that their translated content was relevant, inclusive, and true to the crypto personality and nature.

The Solution

Coinbase's solution to these challenges was to centralize their localization process and assets. This ensured alignment with all of their vendors, who could work from one consistent source of truth. The company also focused on making their translated content easy to understand for any native user, regardless of their location. To achieve this, Coinbase relied on the help of language vendors who understood crypto. The company also kept certain terms, like 'NFT', in English, as they believed these terms were not very usable in other languages. To ensure compliance with regulations, Coinbase centralized their core components like glossaries and style guides, and worked with legal and compliance stakeholders to ensure all content was up to code. The company also used a combination of internally hired LQA linguists and third-party services and vendors for scaled testing.

Operational Impact

The centralization of Coinbase's localization process and assets has resulted in a consistent source of truth for all vendors, ensuring alignment across the board. This has also helped the company to stay compliant with regulations, as they can ensure that they are not mistranslating and redefining things in a way that would make them non-compliant. The company's approach to localization has also allowed them to successfully integrate cultural nuances in their marketing, while remaining compliant with the markets they operate in. Furthermore, by focusing on making their translated content easy to understand, Coinbase has been able to provide a clear and usable customer experience, regardless of the user's location.

Quantitative Benefit

Coinbase translated their content into 21 languages in less than two months.
The project involved high word volume and complexity, and was achieved with agility.
Coinbase's localization team consists of eight full-time employees, split between a delivery program and an operations/quality program.