Cardano (ADA), Cryptocurrency, Stellar (XLM)–Yesterday, as reported by EWN, popular U.S. based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase announced ongoing examination of 31 new currencies, including the previously announced Cardano and Stellar. Since first teasing the world with an update last July that Coinbase would be exploring five new currencies, investors have been waiting for the addition of ADA and XLM, the eleventh and fourth positioned currency, respectively, by market capitalization.
However, instead of going with the more obvious choice of crypto listing, Coinbase has instead chosen an alternative route for delivering new coins to its 13 million and growing customer base. Following the announcement in July, the company has followed through with the listing of 0x, Basic Attention Token and ZCash, leaving the two more popular coins longer to wait as investors anticipate the usual price bump that accompanies listings. In addition, both ADA and XLM would provide an attractive addition for the exchange, with both constituting low price per coin, high supply currencies that are a deviation from what the exchange offers. Both coins also have strong ties to the growth of cryptocurrency, with XLM being in a featured relationship with IBM (including rumors possibly connecting the token to Facebook), and ADA having a host of ties to other projects through its founder and IOHK CEO Charles Hoskinson who also co-founded Ethereum. Coinbase has had a history of choosing tokens they believe promote the industry of cryptocurrency and the support of decentralization, a policy the company has pointed to when updating users about their coin addition process.
However, as we enter the final month of the year and one of the worst bearish turns for the market in an already abysmal year for token prices, investors are having to contend with the possibility that an ADA and XLM listing on Coinbase may not occur until next year. As EWN reported last week, given the mediocre price movement for ZCash ZEC following its most recent addition to the exchange, the “Coinbase Effect” on providing substantial boosts coin prices may be a thing of a past. The bulls have still managed a slight rally for ADA and XLM on the day, with both currencies posting 2-3 percent gains in an otherwise sea of red.
Interestingly, the update on 31 new currencies being explored by Coinbase also included the option of listing XRP, a coin that has had to contend with its own frustration throughout the year in relation to being added to the exchange. In the early weeks of January, while the cryptocurrency bull run was hitting its crescendo, XRP was at an all time high of $3.80 with investors pumping the price in anticipation of an addition to the exchange. Instead, Coinbase pulled the rug out from the second largest coin by market capitalization, causing its price to tumble throughout the year to a relative low of $0.25.
GIven the dire situation of the crypto markets at present, with a recovery to December 2017 prices potentially still years away, Coinbase could be looking to XRP as a way to catalyze further growth to its exchange in providing users with higher market cap coins.
