Renowned cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, just recently doubled its lineup this year and the company has no intentions whatsoever to slow down the expansion of its altcoin trading platform. For altcoin users and enthusiasts, this might be one of the best news – the company revealed that it has been exploring a large list of cryptocurrencies which could soon be added to its flagship app, Coinbase.com. Among the digital assets that Coinbase has been considering are Ripple’s XRP, EOS, Cardano’s ADA and the embattled Tezos (XTZ).
Ramped Up Efforts
Coinbase’s approach when it comes to adding cryptocurrencies to its exchange has been based on a rather selective strategy, at least in most part. However, over the course of 2018, the popular exchange has gone ahead to gradually adopt a more aggressive approach in the way it lists digital assets. In fact, the company even went as far as opening up its listing to literally any company in the space, a move that went on to attract a lot of criticism and ridicule from the larger crypto community.
However, everything was ironed out at about the same time when the company updated the framework on how it decides whether or not to add a new cryptocurrency to the platform. Some of the most significant objective factors it listed included such things as compliance, security as well as other less tangible factors like whether the digital currency aligns with the company’s mission to create an open financial system for the globe.
In addition to watching its own policies and improving its own frameworks, Coinbase has also been on high alert to ensure that it stays on the right side of various regulations. For instance, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission has repeatedly warned digital currency startups that initial coin offerings, otherwise known as ICO’s, are classified as securities and thus have to be registered accordingly with bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) being the only exceptions.
Great News for Ripple Fans
One of the biggest complaints that have been addressed Coinbase was the exclusion of Ripple’s XRP on the list of company’s supported digital assets. This is quite a big deal since XRP is the second largest digital currency by market cap. So, if XRP does meet the exchange’s standards we might finally see it soar to the great heights its investors have been eagerly waiting for.
However, it is worth noting that while there is a whole lot of optimism, there is no guarantee that the company will end up listing all 30 digital currencies. As the company points out, adding new assets “requires significant exploratory work from both a technical and compliance standpoint”. It is also possible that the listing process will result in some of the 30 assets being listed solely for investors to trade while restricting the ability to send or receive using a local wallet.
