Robinhood, the zero-commission cryptocurrency trading platform, has announced the addition of Ethereum Classic (ETC) to its catalog. The announcement comes a day before the Ethereum hard fork is expected to go live on competitor platform Coinbase.
Commission-Free Ethereum Classic Trading on Robinhood
In a blog post published today, (August 6th, 2018), the Menlo Park-based platform announced that investors can now trade ETC on the Robinhood Crypto platform. ETC becomes the sixth cryptocurrency to go live on the platform. Investors in all 19 eligible states (including Iowa and Georgia) will be able to trade the 12th-ranked cryptocurrency, according to Coinmarketcap, on the platform.
Based on this announcement, users will also be able to hold ETC in addition to other more mainstream equity investments offered on the platform. Apart from Ethereum Classic, users can also trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, and Dogecoin. Robinhood also provides its customers with market data tracking services for ten other altcoins. According to the announcement, users can begin trading in ETC right away.
ETC Price Jumps Eight Percent
Not surprisingly, the price of Ethereum Classic took a positive turn amidst the announcement from Robinhood. Starting from 3 p.m. UTC, the ETC price began to climb, reaching about $18.50 less than three hours later, according to Coinmarketcap. Another surge has lifted the altcoin to $19.21 (as of press time).
Ethereum Classic began the day trading at $17.44 and has enjoyed an eight percent increase over the last 24 hours. ETC’s all-time high of $46 came in mid-January 2018. So far, Ethereum Classic’s year-to-date (YTD) decline currently stands at a little over 60 percent.
Beating Coinbase to the Punch
Based on today’s announcement, Robinhood has beaten Coinbase to the punch. The San Francisco-based Coinbase is expected to launch its ETC support tomorrow (August 7th, 2018). Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange platform in the United States, announced in June that it planned to add ETC to its trading catalog.
Coinbase recently declared that it was in the process of wrapping up the final testing in preparation for the live launch of the crypto on its platform. However, while Robinhood’s ETC launch is for all its users, Coinbase’s launch will initially be for its Pro and Prime platforms.
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Images courtesy of Robinhood, Coinmarketcap, and ShutterStock.