Coinbase is set to list its new cryptocurrency assets for 2018, and apparently, Ripple is unlikely to appear on the list. The U.S crypto trading platform whose Chief Executive Office, Brian Armstrong, is well-known for his love for Ethereum, has confirmed that ERC20 tokens will be its next additions. The price of Augur’s native token, REP, and 0x surged as investors and traders hone in on the most likely cryptos to make the list.
For several weeks now, crypto traders and investors have been waiting for positive news, and they, therefore, leaped on the announcement, released on Monday evening, that Coinbase is listing new tokens. The crypto trading platform last added a new token in December, which was in the form of BCH (Bitcoin cash). However, that did not go very well; there were accusations of some insider trading which pumped the price ahead of the news. The allegations led to a lawsuit. But this time around, the U.S exchange is seeking to break the good news gently, only confirming that it is going to support ERC20 tokens. This leaves many investors and traders wondering which assets the exchange plans to anoint.
“We are excited to announce Coinbase’s intentions to support the ERC20 (Ethereum) technical standards for Coinbase in coming months. This clears the way for the support of Ethereum assets across our products in future, though we are not announcing support for specific features or assets at this time,” the exchange wrote.
Coinbase loves Ethereum
Coinbase’s Chief Executive Officer, Brian Armstrong is known for his preference for Ethereum; his love affair with ETH is well documented including in various publications. The CEO has previously been publicly ridiculed for tinkering with ETH dapp browsers when BTC transaction fees had sky-rocketed, and the U.S exchange was yet to implement Segwit or batching. It actually makes sense that the exchange would decide to add ETH tokens ahead of, for instance, Ripple that has already pumped at least two times this year following false Coinbase rumors.
Diar’s weekly cryptocurrency newsletter that was released Monday morning analyzes Coinbase’s move and appears to be calling it right. The newsletter analyzes the criteria the exchange uses in determining which assets will make the cut. Ripple might not qualify since Coinbase deems it necessary that the stake of ownership that the team retains is often a minority stake. Again, as it is well known, most of the existing XRP resides with Ripple. This reasoning may also keep stellar from the list. While dash has high liquidity and meets Coinbase’s requirements, it could be ruled out because of its anonymity features, a move that will disappoint many supporters of the digital coin.
Diar’s tip for the exchange’s inclusion, Augur and 0x, seems very likely. Both assets and the ERC20 tokens like the SNT and OMG recently surged in price, but could not keep up their momentum. However, Coinbase seems to have had a good week, having featured in the introduction to HBO’s Silicon Valley. In the meantime, investors and traders are wondering which tokens the U.S exchange will add first.
