The largest US-based crypto exchange, Coinbase, made an unexpected reveal yesterday, June 12, when it announced that it will list Ethereum Classic (ETH). This is a great news for this cryptocurrency, but many were left astonished that the exchange skipped over a dozen cryptos with larger volume and market value, especially Ripple (XRP).
Coinbase chooses Ethereum Classic
The big reveal by Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange of the United States, left crypto enthusiasts completely confused, and it revolves around the exchange’s decision to add Ethereum Classic (ETC) to its list of cryptos. Many expected that the exchange would add a larger crypto, like EOS or Ripple, which is why this decision is hard to understand.
ETC is currently the 18th most valued cryptocurrency as per CoinMarketCap, while Ripple (XRP) is at the third place. Because of this, it is easy to understand why the community is so confused. Coinbase’s general manager and vice president, Dan Romero, noticed the reaction of the Coinbase’s community and has said that ETC came before XRP because accepting it is in compliance with the current local regulations.
He also added that this is not the end and that the exchange will keep adding as many assets as it can, as long as it can be done in a secure manner, and be in compliance with the crypto laws.
Why ETC?
Ethereum Classic originally came to be as one of Ethereum’s hard forks. It was made by a group of developers who decided to fork Ethereum’s chain after it significant losses of DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization.) investors. In time, ETC’s development was shared between a few groups of developers, one of which was, and still is IOHK, the group that started Cardano (ADA).
ETC still shares a lot of Ethereum’s features. It is sustained by an open-source community, and it is completely decentralized. This is also one of the reasons why it came before cryptos like EOS and Ripple, which are company-owned cryptos.
Coinbase’s CEO, Brian Armstrong, commented on the exchange’s choice and said that this is only the start of the new project that will see many more cryptos added. The exchange, as well as Armstrong, seem to be pretty excited about this, but they will first support ERC-20 tokens, as well as those that came from Bitcoin forks, before moving on to the rest of the cryptos.
Why not Ripple?
As mentioned previously, one of the large reasons why Coinbase decided to pass on Ripple is the decision to first add ERC-20 coins and Bitcoin forks. However, there seems to be more to it than just that.
One of the biggest debates these days is whether Ripple is a cryptocurrency or a security. Ripple is trying to act like a crypto, but the problem lies in the fact that it is company-owned, or centralized. This is the opposite of what cryptocurrency is imagined to be, which is an online currency that doesn’t have a governing entity.
Despite this, Ripple is still a digital coin, and the arguments for both views on its nature just keep piling up. The answer whether Ripple is a security or not currently doesn’t exist, and until this matter is settled, Ripple will probably be left alone by Coinbase.
Still, Ripple’s development team has mentioned that XRP will join the decentralized cryptos in due time, which is something that it can look forward to. If and when it does, it is believed that many more exchanges would be willing to list it, which is expected to, in turn, increase its price.
As for ETC, its price already went up by 25% following the announcement that it will join Coinbase. However, in the last 24 hours, it dropped again by 14%, which puts its price at $13.52 at the time of writing.
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Disclaimer: This article should not be taken as, and is not intended to provide, investment advice. Global Coin Report and/or its affiliates, employees, writers, and subcontractors are cryptocurrency investors and from time to time may or may not have holdings in some of the coins or tokens they cover. Please conduct your own thorough research before investing in any cryptocurrency and read our full disclaimer.
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