“No Decision” on New Assets, Coinbase Says Amid Ripple Rumors
Coinbase is pushing back against rumors that it may soon add Ripple’s XRP token to its current trading pairs.
The speculation comes after it was revealed that Coinbase COO and President Asiff Hirji may appear up close before Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse on a special episode of CNBC’s “Fast Money” on March 6. Moreover, despite any firm confirmation of the presumed listing, the price of XRP rose to more than $1 on Monday.
After hours of radio blackout on the matter, Coinbase took to Twitter to counter the rumors, saying that the January announcement about new cryptocurrency listings — which are subtle elements of how a “board of internal experts” ultimately makes those decisions — hadn’t changed.
Our statement of January 4, 2018 remains valid: we have not decided to add additional funds to either GDAX or Coinbase.
As a segment prepared by CNBC, it is unclear whether Garlinghouse and Hirji will speak on the panel or appear independently. Host Melissa Lee posted a promo screenshot for the crypto-themed segment earlier today, which also features Passport Capital founder John Burbank and Social Capital founder and CEO Chamath Palihapitiya.
A Ripple representative declined to comment on the rumors when reached.
Ripple has had another remarkable month that has not withstood its XRP cryptocurrency which has lost significantly from its incomparably high values in early January.
XRP won the attention of its customers by reaching as much as 1000 percent at the beginning of this year, as well as new clients; his blockchain startup became the talk of the crypto industry in 2018.
However, it is important for newcomers to be aware that the root of all this enthusiasm is due to the startup’s specific claims – specifically, that its technology could transform international payments, improving the outdated methods used for payments and money between major financial institutions.
According to Ripple, not only are its products cheaper and faster, but it proudly backs them as more methodical than services available in the market today, a claim that primarily emphasizes the use of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.
Coinbase has just thrown some water on Ripple enthusiasts who are eager to see their coin hit the popular mainstream exchange.
Rumors that Ripple’s XRP will be next in line after Bitcoin Cash peaked this week among coin hype types, with some reading between the lines of CNBC’s Quick Money segment on Tuesday, which is set to feature Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Coinbase President Asiff Hirji in what appears to be a panel discussion on cryptocurrency trends.
Speculation based on the Fast Money segment drove XRP to $1.07, about 6% higher than the weekly average. Ripple’s XRP remains the only coin in the top five by market cap not available on Coinbase, although given XRP’s centralized nature and very different goals compared to other cryptocurrency projects, its absence isn’t all that surprising. Still, there is plenty of trading interest and these things do not prevent Coinbase from adding XRP in the future if it chooses to do so.
Any claim to the contrary is untrue and not endorsed by the company.” After that statement, XRP fell modestly to its previous averages.
The company also linked to a Jan. 5 blog post about its criteria for adding new funds. The announcement stated that “Coinbase will only announce the addition of new funds via our blog or other official channels.” The company is probably not eager to repeat the chaos surrounding the introduction of Bitcoin Cash. Support for Coinbase’s newest asset was officially announced well ahead of time, but the rollout itself was marred by huge premiums, trading freezes and an internal insider trading investigation.