We are pleased to announce our intention to add support for Ethereum Classic (ETC) to Coinbase in the coming months. We are announcing this both internally and to the public consistent with our process for adding new assets.
Per this process, we will now begin the engineering work (Step 4) for supporting Ethereum Classic. As part of this process, customers can expect to see public-facing APIs and other signs that the asset is being added. When we reach the final testing phase of the technical integration, which we expect to occur over the next few months, we will publicly announce a launch date for trading via our blog and Twitter (Step 5).
What Ethereum Classic support means for our products
Coinbase Custody — the Custody team is planning to add support for deposits and withdrawals of Ethereum Classic. Note that Custody will likely support more assets than those available to trade on Coinbase Markets, Coinbase Pro, Coinbase Prime and Coinbase for the foreseeable future.
Coinbase Markets — the Markets team is planning to add trading support for Ethereum Classic. In accordance with our Trading Rules, all ETC books will open in post-only for a minimum of one hour. If sufficient liquidity is established, trading will then be enabled on Pro and Prime.
Coinbase Pro — the Pro team is planning to add trading support for Ethereum Classic. Note that customers who previously had an Ethereum Classic balance on the platform as a result of the 2016 Ethereum hard fork and did not elect to withdraw their funds prior to January 2017 will receive a corresponding Ethereum Classic credit.
Coinbase Prime — the Prime team is planning to add trading support for Ethereum Classic. Note that customers who previously had an Ethereum Classic balance on the platform as a result of the 2016 Ethereum hard fork and did not elect to withdraw their funds prior to January 2017 will receive a corresponding Ethereum Classic credit.
Coinbase Asset Management — any asset listed on Coinbase Markets will be added to Coinbase Index in accordance with the Coinbase Index methodology. Coinbase Index Fund will rebalance to include Ethereum Classic.
Coinbase — per our previous guidance, Coinbase will list assets only after they are listed on Coinbase Pro and Prime. After evaluating factors such as liquidity, price stability, and other market health metrics, we may choose to add Ethereum Classic to the Coinbase platform. It’s also worth repeating that Coinbase Markets, Coinbase Pro and Coinbase Prime will likely have more assets listed on the platform than the Coinbase platform, i.e. listing on Coinbase Markets does not guarantee listing on Coinbase.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is Ethereum Classic (ETC) and how does it differ from Ethereum (ETH)?
Ethereum Classic is a cryptocurrency that was the result of a hard fork of the Ethereum network in July 2016. You can read more about Ethereum Classic here. You can read more about what a cryptocurrency fork is here.
Q: When will trading be available?
Per our public process for adding new assets, we will now begin the engineering work (Step 4) for supporting Ethereum Classic. As part of this process, customers can expect to see public-facing APIs and other signs that the asset is being added. When we reach the final testing phase of the technical integration, which we expect to occur over the next few months, we will publicly announce a launch date for trading via our blog and Twitter (Step 5).
Q: How will you roll out trading support for a new asset?
When we reach the final testing of the technical integration, we will announce a date that customers on Pro and Prime can begin placing limit orders on the Ethereum Classic order book on Coinbase Markets. Once that resting market reaches sufficient liquidity, we will then enable trading.
Q: What geographies will you offer support for Ethereum Classic?
We plan to offer support for Ethereum Classic in all geographies where the asset is compliant with local law.
Q: How did you control for material nonpublic information when deciding to add support for Ethereum Classic?
We followed our public process for adding new assets to Coinbase. Also, any personnel at Coinbase who were aware of the company’s plans to add Ethereum Classic were subject to a trading blackout.
Q: What assets are you adding next?
We have previously announced our intention to support the ERC20 technical standard and Bitcoin forks. We will announce the intention to add specific assets within those categories prior to final engineering integration. This is consistent with our public process for adding new assets.
Q: I had Ethereum on GDAX at the time of the July 2016 hard fork and I did not withdraw my Ethereum Classic prior to January 2017. Will I receive an Ethereum Classic credit when trading launches?
Yes. Note that Ethereum was only supported on GDAX at the time of the July 2016 hard fork. Support for Ethereum on Coinbase’s consumer interface was added after the hard fork, so only exchange users that had Ethereum balances were subsequently eligible for Ethereum Classic withdrawals.