Today the tech news media is talking about an addition to the Coinbase Pro exchange that offers professional cryptocurrency trading services.
Ripple’s XRP, which is widely considered either the second or third cryptocurrency in the world depending on market conditions, is going to be added to Coinbase in steps. First, Coinbase will set XRP up for liquidity with trading pairs in U.S. dollars, Euro and Bitcoin. A limited pilot project to various countries will precede full trading on the new exchange network.
In getting added to Coinbase Pro, XRP follows Basic Attention Token (BAT) and Zcash, as well Ethereum Classic.
According to Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, Coinbase is doing the right thing.
“As we solve problems at scale for institutions, I think it’s in Coinbase’s interest to participate in that,” Garkinghouse said in an interview with Fortune’s Jeff John Roberts at the CB Insights Future of Fintech conference in New York last year, according to CCN.
At the time, Garlinghouse went on to characterize XRP as a broader method of leveraging value rather than the type of token cryptocurrency that falls under the SEC’s definition of securities.
Ripple Labs, he said, does not have direct control over XRP and without Ripple Labs, XRP would continue to function.
Garlinghouse called XRP a utility currency, and said its primary use case is payment processing.
Looking at value changes, we see XRP price declining from a spike in yesterday’s trading. However you also see XRP value relatively stable in the longer term. Besides, some analysts feel that looking at XRP value misses the bigger picture.
“Ripple is also set to partner with more European and Latin American banks which might help promote both XRP and Ripple’s payment technology,” writes Aamir Kapoor today at The Oofy. “These developments could lead, to big price rises in the XRP token price as the predictions stated above. So this means, the Ripple price prediction should go the positive way.”
It’s the functionality and future of XRP, many traders and analysts argue, that distinguishes it from the altcoins that the SEC is going to be targeting, perhaps in the near future. That’s leading a lot of investors to keep XRP on the table as they look at the overall cryptocurrency context and how to align their portfolios.
