How is this good news?
My thought is this makes the acquisition of BTC safer, easier, and more available.
I though that, Coinbase being already licensed as a payment processor, a Coinbase customer already could
* deposit dollars at Coinbase
* buy bitcoins at Coinbase,
* withdraw his bitcoins,
* send bitcoin to a merchant
* have Coinbase send the dollar value of his bitcoins to merchants
With a money transmitting license, a Coinbase client can also
* sell his bitcoins to Coinbase (or other Coinbase clients)
* withdraw the dollars from such sales
I.e. Coinbase becoming a fully licensed exchange makes it easier for people to sell their bitcoins (not just spend them in purchases). They could already buy bitcoins from them, so that part did not get any easier.
Is this correct?
I think you've been able to buy and sell bitcoins on coinbase since its inception. I don't know what the different limits are but I know for a fact that (as early as 2013 when I opened an account) it has been possible to send coins to coinbase, sell them, and have the USD deposited in your bank account.