Who stands a better chance to be the Coinbase listing after ZEC: Stellar (XLM) or Cardano (ADA)
Now that Coinbase announced listing of ZEC on their platform, the initial pack of coins they revealed as top favorites to be added on the world largest fiat-crypto exchange is getting smaller. There are only ADA and XLM left to be listed as ZRX, BAT and now ZEC are all already sitting comfortably in their much coveted Coinbase positions.
Even though the general market sentiment and expectation was that XLM was the heavy favorite before this ZCash announcement, ADA also stands a good chance of listing as it is clear that Coinbase inner workings are hard to predict and they catch us by surprise with each listing (who can honestly say ETC was going to be listed couple of months ago).
Speculating on what coin is going to be added on Coinbase is almost a separate discipline in the crypto world. A day doesn’t go by without a new rumor or a more or less valid conjecture on which coin is going to be next. What most of these predictors agree on is the subset of coins that are top favorites to be added, that was not too hard to agree on as Coinbase themselves made this shortlist. The predictors differ, however, on the actual ranking – which one is next and which one is after that.
What you'll learn 👉
Here are couple of reasons why Stellar could be the next listing:
Coinbase has close business ties with Circle – investment app that offers cryptocurrency as a buying option. One of the coins offered in Circle is XLM which prompted XLM holders to see this as the advantage for Stellar to be the next Coinbase listing. The reasoning is solid – if it is already on Circle and Circle works closely with Coinbase, it is very plausible for the XLM coin to be added to the Coinbase exchange.
Based on what Coinbase have put out in their public releases about requirements to be listed on the platform, I’d say Stellar ticks the boxes. For a coin to enter Coinbase, it needs to meet the criteria in the digital asset framework released last year. The quality of the project is part of the criteria along with liquidity, legal compliance, token economy.
And third, a member of the Stellar board is the president of Y Combinator. Y Combinator owns 7% of Coinbase. That member is of course Samuel H. “Sam” Altman.
Cardano case
Cardano has a weaker case than Stellar, mostly because their project is still far from being finished, they have no actual blockchain live. That is probably the chief drawback as otherwise ADA has plenty to show for.
Cardano has a strong brand presence, liquidity and foundation pillars that run the project (IOHK, Emurgo and Cardano Foundation). Most importantly, Charles Hoskinson is one of the thought leaders in crypto space and has deep connections with decision makers across the spectrum.
The question is how interested is he to push ADA to Coinbase as he is pretty laid back when it comes to this, market aspect of the Cardano project.
Conclusion
Stellar is a slight favorite in my eyes, mostly because Hoskinson seems to be less interested in pursuing these types of deals which is not a bad thing, just the contrary: it is a further proof that ADA is playing the long game and even though this might frustrate short-term speculators, time is the most precious resource and Charles obviously has better ways to spend it than to gel Coinbase execs to list his project on their exchange.
How much of a bump a Coinbase listing will give to each individual project remains to be seen though. It helped Bitcoin Cash a lot, it bumped ETC, BAT and ZRX as well even though we were in the thick of the bear market at the time of listings. We all know Coinbase is the go-to exchange for retail investors as the main fiat on ramp known for its ease of use and brand recognition so the price bump for XLM or ADA would have to be at least of the same level as with other coins.
