As one of the most-lauded cryptocurrency exchanges, Coinbase has been on the lips of many cryptocurrency enthusiasts on why it supports only four digital coins irrespective of its relevance and influence in the crypto market.
It seems these concerns did not land on death ears as the virtual currency exchange has decided to add the alternate version of Ethereum, the Ethereum Classic (ETC) to its services to become the fifth crypto to be listed.
Ethereum Classic (ETC) holders are now over the moon celebrating this latest news. The listing gives holders exposure to a bigger audience anticipated to reward holders who stuck with the digital coin through thick and thin.
However, many did not see this coming, and they are merely dumbfounded. Among many other questions were the following: Why ETC out of all the other virtual currencies? What does it have to offer? Why not Ripple?
Brief History on Ethereum Classic (ETC)
Following a significant hack on a fundraising vehicle for the Ethereum project, the DAO hack, Ethereum Classic was brought to life in June 2016. The Ethereum Foundation saw it right to create a new version of Ethereum what we call today, Ethereum Classic as a mitigation strategy that was purposed to rescue the lost coins from the DAO hack, those users who were against this move continue to use the original currency.
Ethereum is the second largest digital coin after Bitcoin according to Coinmarketcap, while ETC is ranked 16. After the listing news, ETC prices surged by nearly 20% over the past 24 hours. We are still waiting for communication from the company’s Twitter page and blog on a date when ETC will be officially introduced.
Was ETC the best fit for Coinbase listing?
Some crypto enthusiasts are arguing that Ethereum Classic was not the best choice to fill the Coinbase slot claiming other successful currencies could make the cut, like Ripple.
Going by tradition and trends applied by such crypto exchanges, only top currencies regarding media publicity, value and efficiency get selected. Bitcoin comes. First, Ethereum comes second followed by XRP at third place. Not Ethereum Classic at number 19.
Aside from the criticism, Coinbase maintain their intentions to add more cryptocurrencies to their platform as they continue with their operations.
Apart from adding new coins, Coinbase is exploring ways as to how it can work with new blockchains including proof of stake, sharding, swaps and many others, according to Coinbase Balaji Srinivasan, the CTO who joined in January.
Halfway into 2018, this year still promises to be a year of development and growth for Coinbase who have so far managed to acquired Memo.ai, wallet service and localized browser, Toshi, and Paradex, a trading platform.
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