The largest cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S. has announced that it intends to add support for Ethereum Classic (ETC) in the coming months, bringing the cryptocurrency total on its platform to five.
Coinbase Expands Its Crypto Assets
San Francisco-based Coinbase made the announcement in a blog post earlier today. The addition of Ethereum Classic to the cryptocurrency platform will join the likes of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin.
In the blog, Coinbase said that they were making the announcement both internally and to the public “consistent with our process for adding new assets.” The platform will now begin the engineering work for the addition of Ethereum Classic. The post notes:
As part of this process, customers can expect to see public-facing APIs and other signs that the asset is being added. When we reach the final testing phase of the technical integration, which we expect to occur over the next few months, we will publicly announce a launch date for trading via our blog and Twitter.
Coinbase added that it plans to roll out support for Ethereum Classic in all locations where the asset is compliant with local laws. Ethereum Classic is currently ranked 18th, with a market cap value worth $1.6 billion. Since the announcement from the exchange, its value has risen 22.47 percent in 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap.
Coinbase Suite
In May, the crypto exchange announced the launch of its suite of institutional products: Coinbase Custody, Coinbase Markets, Coinbase Pro, and Coinbase Prime. Its GDAX exchange is being rebranded to Coinbase Pro.
In light of a rapidly growing market, with more institutional investors entering the space, new grade products and services are required. This is something that the San Francisco-based exchange is aiming to provide with its suite.
With the intended addition of Ethereum Classic, the aforementioned institutional products are planning to add trading, withdrawal, and deposit support for the altcoin.
Adds ETC After Saying It Has No Plans to Introduce New Coins
The news of Coinbase’s decision comes after a report in March that said the exchange had made no decision to implement news coins to its platform.
At the time, it was speculated that Ripple would be the next altcoin of choice to join Coinbase after the inclusion of Bitcoin Cash. This was highlighted by the fact that many were reading between the lines of a CNBC segment that saw Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, and Asiff Hirji, president of Coinbase, being members of a panel discussing cryptocurrencies.
The exchange, however, quickly put the bed the idea by tweeting:
Our January 4th, 2018 statement continues to stand: we have made no decision to add additional assets to either GDAX or Coinbase. Any statement to the contrary is untrue and not authorized by the company.
It seems, however, that that’s no longer the case.
Do you think Coinbase will add Ripple next? Let us know in the comments below.
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