Despite the market falling to near-yearly lows, Robinhood’s native cryptocurrency service has pushed forward in terms of development, recently announcing that it will be supporting the purchase and sale of Ethereum Classic (ETC).
Taking to Twitter on early Monday morning, Robinhood announced that its commission-free and mobile-centric cryptocurrency trading service would be adding yet another crypto asset to its exclusive roster.
You can now invest in Ethereum Classic on Robinhood Crypto, commission-free. https://t.co/PAidMUpbYq
— Robinhood (@RobinhoodApp) August 6, 2018
This most recent addition comes just a few weeks after the California-based financial services startup introduced support for Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Dogecoin. It was also noted in the aforementioned announcement that Robinhood Crypto is now available in 19 U.S. states, with the app’s team working on an expansion into more regions.
As it stands, users of the app can trade six cryptocurrencies, and can also track the market data of 10 other cryptocurrencies.
Robinhood Beats Coinbase To List ETC
As pointed out by many in the cryptocurrency community, Robinhood actually beat Coinbase to listing ETC.
Ha! You guys beat @coinbase to it😂😂😂
— Derrick Joseph (@dreamchasin_dj) August 6, 2018
As reported by Ethereum World News previously, Coinbase has finalized plans to list ETC, with the cryptocurrency giant planning on introducing the 11th largest cryptocurrency by market cap by August 7th.
Following the arrival of August 7th, Coinbase will open support for inbound deposits on Coinbase Pro (formerly GDAX) and Coinbase Prime. It is important to note that trading will not be enabled immediately, with the exchange intending to allocate 24 to 48 hours to explicitly facilitate ETC deposits.
While some were quick to berate Coinbase for acting in a slow manner, it is important to note that the listing process for Robinhood Crypto is likely less technically intensive than Coinbase’s process, as the mobile-focused service currently doesn’t allow the deposit and withdrawal of crypto assets.
Robinhood Crypto has received a substantial amount of flak from cryptocurrency consumers for the lack of the aforementioned features, which are essential for the success of any cryptocurrency platform.
But with a recent move to hire a “crypto engineer,” Robinhood has hinted that its crypto team is working on offering support for a built-in wallet and for an array of cryptocurrencies, as it continues to eye 17 of the top cryptos.
Ethereum Classic Is Up 15%, Despite Overall Market Decline
As a direct result of the positive news regarding ETC, the price of the asset has surged over the previous weeks, outperforming a vast majority of the foremost crypto assets. Ethereum Classic is currently up 15% over the past 24 hours, posting a substantial $470 million figure in terms of exchange volume. At the time of press, ETC currently valued at $20.3 a pop, reaching a near three-month high in dollar value.
While the Robinhood news may have had some effect on the price, it is likely that this stellar gain was the result of the so-called “Coinbase effect,” whereas assets listed, or even fleetingly mentioned by the platform see a positive bout of price action.
