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That has nothing to do with the Bitcoin protocol, rather it's a "security" measure by Coinbase.

A typical Bitcoin transaction, even with minimum fees, confirms in under an hour.

I know a Dutch bitcoin payment provider [0] whose transactions typically confirm within less than a second. In short: That's because the risk of a 51% attack on the network to steal my restaurant payment is in all practicality zero. So you don't even have to wait for a confirmation from the network, just the transaction showing up on the network is enough, given the transaction fee is reasonable.

[0] https://www.bitkassa.nl/

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