Coinbase Launches Index Fund for Digital Currencies 10

Coinbase Launches Index Fund for Digital Currencies

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has announced that it is launching an index fund for digital currencies.

In a blog announcement, the San Francisco-based exchange explained that the Coinbase Index Fund would give accredited investors, with a minimum $10,000 investment, exposure to all digital assets listed on Coinbase’s exchange, GDAX. It will be weighted by market capitalisation. At present, it’s only available to U.S. residents due to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s regulatory oversight.

It reads:

“Index funds have changed the way that many people think about investing. By providing diversified exposure to a broad range of assets, index funds enable investors to track the performance of an entire asset class, rather than having to select individual assets.”

Speaking on CNBC’s ‘Fast Money’ yesterday, Asiff Hirji, Coinbase President and COO, said that the index fund would be ‘very simple to use.’

Similar to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which lists 30 stocks aimed at painting a picture of the American economy, the Coinbase Index Fund will attempt to illustrate the cryptocurrency market.

Out of the top five digital currencies on the market, Coinbase offers bitcoin, ethereum, bitcoin cash, and litecoin. It doesn’t offer Ripple’s XRP token.

The exchange quashed rumours yesterday that it was going to be adding the third-biggest cryptocurrency to the exchange after speculation that Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple’s CEO, and Hirji were due to appear on CNBC’s ‘Fast Money’ special edition. It was thought that the two would take the opportunity to make an announcement. As a result of the new asset rumours on Coinbase, the altcoin’s value rose above $1, to $1.05 on Monday.

However, since Coinbase denied any new assets would be added to the exchange, the XRP token fell back below $1. According to CoinMarketCap, it is currently trading at $0.916466, at the time of publishing.

With over 1,500 cryptocurrencies in the market Hirji explained that the company is cautions when it comes to adding new currencies as there is plenty of ‘rubbish out there.’ The blog post states, though, that when a new asset is listed on the exchange, it will automatically be added to the fund.

Hirji added:

“There has been a lot of discomfort from the SEC around a lot of these ICO-based tokens. We’re not going to be the ones operating in the black.”