Coinbase Test 5 New Tokens But that Doesn’t Please the Community at Large

Coinbase may be actually exploring new coins but its similar previous announcements and no action just doesn’t go well with the community.

Coinbase, announced that its currently testing and exploring of 5 new assets, to the likes of Cardano (ADA), Basic Attention Token (BAT), Stellar Lumens (XLM), Zcash (ZEC), 0X (ZRX). The company also said that it’s making this announcement internally at Coinbase and to the public at the same time to remain transparent with our customers about support for future assets.

Coinbase testing new asset, not a new activity

Coinbase, like other exchanges, keeps exploring opportunities of listing new assets. It’s has been exploring quite a few assets recently. Previously, somewhere in April, it was rumored that Coinbase is planning to add the ripple to its offering. Last month it announced that it’s exploring Ethereum Classic as well. In December last year, it had carried similar exercise for Bitcoin Cash before finally adding it to its offering on customer demand.

The company it the blog post further mentions that unlike the ongoing process of adding Ethereum Classic, which is technically very similar to Ethereum, these assets will require additional exploratory work and it cannot guarantee they will be listed for trading. Coinbase will be working with local banks and regulators to add them in as many jurisdictions as possible. This exploration is part of company’s announcement in March where it let out its general intention to support the Ethereum ERC20 technical standard for Coinbase in the coming months.

Coinbase currently supports only Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin. It is one of largest exchange and also provides other services such as institution platform called Coinbase Prime, Advanced digital trading under Coinbase Pro and e-commerce payment support for vendors accepting Bitcoin payments. It recently launched custodian services and also it’s asset management firm to manage investment under Coinbase Index fund.

Also, read: Crypto Community Questions Facts Over Coinbase CTO’s “ >60X ” Prediction

Community not impressed with Coinbase exploration and no action

This announcement of adding new coins hasn’t gone well with the community as it feels this is announcements create speculation in prices and do not add to any action from Coinbase. Coinbase is one of the most popular exchange companies and holds quite a bit of sway in directing attention and enthusiasm within the broader blockchain/cryptocurrency space, so the exploration announcement is sure to bring some added interest to these particular assets. As Coinbase adds the note that it “cannot guarantee they will be listed for trading.” makes investors and community feel that it’s again a sign of inaction.

Coinbase had faced similar heat last year surrounding the rollout of Bitcoin Cash after several users accused the site’s employees of profiting from advanced knowledge of the news after the token’s value swelled preceding the announcement. It is believed that Coinbase was forced to investigate after the launch was delayed with service outages as the price of the new addition fluctuated wildly.

On various Bitcoin forums, some user also shared their displeasure as one of the was quoted saying        

“ This is pretty surprising for me. 5 new tokens at once. And some of them are weird choices. 0x? Basic Attention Token?

And what does testing means? Dozens of exchanges have already listed them. I don’t get the “testing” part of the announcement.”

The was another announcement made by Kraken, which used it official twitter handle post the announcement, that

“ Kraken has been contemplating the exploration of maybe adding over 1600 new coins, pending the outcome of our highly sophisticated review process.”

The timing of the tweet and the CoinMarketCap link posted, which shows all cryptocurrencies that exist, sounded like it was mocking Coinbase for its “possible listing claims”

Announcing this might be a way for Coinbase way informing the whole community in an earlier stage of the process in which direction it is looking so that no rumors or blames get attached to its name. But this definitely is not impressing the community.

How will Coinbase react to this? Will it actually list an ERC 20 token to end all of it? Do let us know your views on the same.