Coinbase has come under fire in recent weeks for slow transaction times, nonexistent support, and multiple server outages under high traffic. The US-based exchange even suspended trading when things really got lively during Litecoin’s romp to the top a few days ago. However new things could be coming to Coinbase in 2018.
In an interview with CNBC, Coinbase CEO and co-founder, Brian Armstrong, discussed how Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are becoming the next generation stock market. He first went into brief details on a new service which will allow traditional investors and institutions to buy and store cryptocurrencies securely:
Coinbase Custody is seeking to become the first qualified custodian for institutions that are looking to store digital currency.
ALTCOIN ADDITIONS
The interesting part came next when he started talking about altcoins. As the crypto market becomes “Stock Market 2.0” he said that Coinbase plans to expand its altcoin listings in 2018.
The ones that are the most exciting to us that we have on the platform today are bitcoin, ethereum and litecoin, but there’s many more that are going to be added to the platform in 2018 and I think this is going to be a really exciting space for all kinds of institutional investors to make money.
When questioned about SEC regulations, he said that they have stayed out of adding any ICOs on the platform to date because of that regulatory uncertainty. There is a cautious approach to the area and a number of factors are considered before they add a new asset to the platform. These include regulatory risk, diligence on the team, security audits on the coin, and the customer demand. Finally, Armstrong added that Coinbase is looking to provide a safe place where customers can have assets that they trust and participate in this market.
PICK YOUR POISON
Speculation is all that we currently have on what particular altcoins will be added to Coinbase. It is likely they will come from the top of the market capacity charts, which tend to be the most popular coins by demand. So in 2018 will we be seeing Dogecoin, NEO, IOTA, and Bitcoin Cash listed on Coinbase – or will they be selecting Ripple, Dash, Monero, Nem, and Bitcoin Gold – or maybe all of the above?