Joining the exclusive club of Coinbase listee’s is a goal for any serious cryptocurrency. The positive effects of this cannot be overlooked; this event is one of those rare ones where both the rumor and the news cause people to buy in. The reasons for this aren’t exactly unknown, as the US-based exchange is one of the biggest and most respected platforms in the cryptoverse.
The past is full of examples of various coins that experienced price hikes due to simply being mentioned in the same breath as Coinbase. When Coinbase confirmed the purchase of Paradex, 0x (ZRX)-based decentralized exchange, the price of ZRX skyrocketed. Investors clearly saw this as a sign of Coinbase having further intentions with ZRX and acted on what was nothing more than a rumor.
One coin that was mentioned plenty of times as the next Coinbase addition is XRP. The rumors started way back in 2017, with people feeling that the 3rd most valuable crypto project on the market definitely deserves to be listed on the exchange. This rumor, combined with the general market upswing, saw XRP climb to almost $4 USD per coin. The murmur died down somewhat during the post-January downtrend but this was only temporary.
During the April’s market upswing the talk of XRP becoming a part of Coinbase’s offering resurfaced, after the exchange communicated its willingness to introduce new coins. One issue that experts noticed is related to the fact that Coinbase announced a desire to focus on adding ERC20, SEC-approved and regulated assets. As XRP is neither of those (every Ripple public appearance is seemingly placing extra attention on pointing out XRP’s non-security status) it seems that there isn’t much reason to think XRP is anywhere near getting listed.
The latest blow to XRP and people who wanted to see the coin listed on Coinbase came when the exchange dropped an absolute bombshell with the addition of Ethereum Classic. With a transparent team (IOHK of Cardano fame) and a decentralized product, ETC is seemingly a perfect fit for the rules set by Coinbase’s Digital Asset Framework. Brian Armstrong, the CEO at Coinbase, confirmed that further additions will be coming in the future:
“We have previously announced our intention to support the ERC20 technical standard and Bitcoin forks. We will announce the intention to add specific assets within those categories prior to final engineering integration. This is consistent with our public process for adding new assets.”
For now, XRP looks set to miss out on the full Coinbase effect. The exchange itself has been very picky with its additions and ZRX and some ERC20 tokens look to be a lot closer to the platform right now. The coin also isn’t without flaws. The heavy centralization of its supply and blockchain go against Coinbase’s requirements and against the decentralized principles of cryptocurrency. Some experts feel that it’s worth asking if XRP is even a real cryptocurrency. With all this in mind, one thing is for certain: a lot of stars will need to line up before XRP becomes a part of Coinbase’s all-star lineup.
They’re just trying to add as many coins as possible so they can charge their customers more fees. Updated analysis of The Coinbase Effect as of 12/17/2018.
https://www.mycoinrisk.com/cryptocurrencyrisk/Coinbase-isting-+31-New-Assets-How-Coinbase-Listings-Aren%E2%80%99t-the-Same-Historical-Impact-vs-Present
This article explores the historical impacts of Coinbase listings know as The Coinbase Effect.