Come Monday, February 25th, the industry-leading crypto exchange is set Coinbase announced to commence receiving XRP deposits Coinbase Pro on its platform designated for seasoned traders, where new digital assets are typically launched prior to expanding through Coinbase’s full spectrum.
Initially, users of Coinbase Pro situated in the US (excluding New York), the UK, select EU countries, Canada, Singapore, and Australia will gain access to XRP trading facilities as per Coinbase’s statement.
After XRP Following a four-phase introduction, traders will find XRP available for trading against the platform's primary currencies, bitcoin (BTC) namely the US dollar (USD) and euro (EUR). This development is hugely anticipated by the Ripple community, who have long waited for XRP to be part of Coinbase's impressive lineup of digital currencies.
Furthermore, according to the exchange, it's just a matter of time before XRP, ranked as the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, makes its way beyond Coinbase Pro. The platform noted that while XRP isn't yet available on the regular Coinbase interface or apps, a separate update will be out once it's ready.
The real question isn’t if XRP will become widely available, but when.
New Listings Aplenty
The introduction on Coinbase follows its previous announcement from December 2018, indicating it was assessing the inclusion of over 30 cryptocurrencies in its offerings. This list featured top-tier crypto projects including XRP, EOS , NEO, DAI, Cardano (ADA), Aragon (ANT), ChainLink Chainlink (LINK), Maker (MKR), OmiseGo (OMG), Augur (REP), Stellar (XLM), and Tezos (XTZ).
In the past year, the exchange has already expanded its list, adding Ethereum Classic (ETC), Basic Attention Token (BAT), Zcash (ZEC), and 0x 0x (ZRX). Initially, Coinbase was one of the more conservative platforms, primarily listing only bitcoin, litecoin, and ether until widening its horizons in fall 2017.
Ripple's top executive, Brad Garlinghouse, previously championed the strategic benefits of having XRP listed on America’s leading crypto platform. \"When solving large-scale problems for institutions, it's in Coinbase's best interest to be a part of it,\" Garlinghouse mentioned during last summer's Future of Fintech event.
Coinbase has highlighted the institutional appeal of XRP in its announcement concerning the Coinbase Pro listing.
\"Every account in this network can send or receive XRP, making it possible for XRP to facilitate transfers of real-world currencies between parties,\" remarked the exchange.
\"Thus, XRP can serve as an intermediary currency for transactions involving different currencies such as the US dollar, Japanese yen, euro, franc, and others that operate on the XRP network.\"
Financial Incentives or Userbase?
Importantly, this listing follows reports that Ripple had offered \"financial incentives\" to Coinbase and rival exchange Gemini to host XRP on their platforms back in 2017. Sources privy to the situation claim both exchanges turned down the offers. It’s said Coinbase was proposed an XRP loan of $100 million USD, which could be repaid gradually.
Ultimately, it was Coinbase's customer base, rather than financial enticements, that tipped the scales. Enthusiastic XRP supporters have consistently urged the platform's executives to embrace the transaction-focused cryptocurrency, and Coinbase acknowledged that allowing \"One of the most common requests we hear from customers [...] is the ability to trade more assets on our platform.\"
However, skeptics point out the unresolved issue of whether the SEC will classify XRP as an unregistered security in the US.
The timing of any formal classification by the Commission remains uncertain. Nonetheless, Coinbase’s legal experts seem assured that the asset isn't deemed a security by federal standards, allowing them to proceed despite the ambiguity.
