Coinbase recently announced its intention to support the Ethereum ERC20 technical standard, which will potentially lead to the listing of some ERC20 based coins across its platforms. The move could trigger interest and a subsequent price hike for any coin chosen.
The ERC20 Protocol
ERC20 is a technical protocol that developers can use to create tokens on the Ethereum network. It can be used to create a currency, asset or virtual share and has many other applications for use. ERC20 has been particularly popular with ICOs and other enterprises looking for a simple way to launch a digital coin or token.
There are literally thousands of ERC based tokens with hundreds available for trade. ERC Tokens created on the Ethereum network are automatically compatible with any wallet or exchange using the ERC20 technical standard.
Coinbase announced its intention to add ERC20 support on March 26th, 2018, but has not indicated when, or which ERC20 coins it may eventually list for trade.
ERC20 Tokens
A handful of leading ERC Tokens by market capitalization and the focus of the company behind them:
EOS (EOS)
EOS is a blockchain platform for the development of decentralized applications being developed by Block One, and founders Dan Larimer and Brendan Bloomer. EOS provides an operating system for applications including user authentication, cloud storage and server hosting.
TRONix (TRON)
TRON Founder Justin Sun is targeting the trillion-dollar global entertainment market with a decentralized content sharing platform. The platform aims to compete with existing digital media sharing platforms by creating a single medium for content creators to share their content with consumers.
VeChain (VEN)
Founded in 2015, VeChain is focused on building a decentralized platform for business solutions. It aims to create a platform that can handle 10,000 transactions per second, where businesses can interact and transact without an intermediary. VeChain is also progressing the ability to build decentralized apps on the VeChain blockchain.
OmiseGo (OMG)
OmiseGo, with Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin as an advisor, is building a decentralized peer-to-peer financial transaction platform that facilitates financial services across locations, asset classes and applications. OmiseGo is targeting both traditional banking customers and developing countries with its e-wallet, exchange and payments facility.
ICON (ICX)
Project ICON is aiming to “Hyperconnect the World” by building one of the largest decentralized networks where blockchains can interact with each other using smart contracts. The ICON platform could cross-section finance, security, insurance, healthcare, education, commerce and more, where all can both coexist and transact.
Ethereum World News makes no attempt in this article to predict whether any of the above tokens will be eventually listed by Coinbase, merely choosing the current market leaders by Market Capitalization. Binance Coin (BNB) has been excluded from the list as it is highly unlikely Coinbase will make a competitor platform’s coin one of its first choices.
Coin Savage recently published an interesting assessment of ERC20 tokens against the Coinbase selection process. A comprehensive list of ERC20 based tokens can be found at Etherscan.
