The Ripple (XRP) digital asset had a brief moment where a price tag of $5 per coin was seen as viable, even in the short term. A listing on Coinbase, giving access to US residents to buy up the coin, may have lifted the prices.
But this promise did not materialize, and XRP went on to slide from peaks above $3 to current levels around $0.50. This is still an extremely robust gain, but not the promised market dominance. And now, it turns out the Ripple project relied on aggressive promotion, paying for exchange listings to increase dominance faster.
Exchanges do usually take fees, but in the case of XRP, the crypto community did not have a favorable opinion. It must be noted that during the December climb, XRP prices were set based on Korean trading, and the asset was not widely available for Western investors.
It seems the target of Ripple was precisely the US-based exchange, hence the rumors that were spread with a certain confidence. Reportedly, Coinbase and the Gemini exchange refused the listing.
While other trading platforms also ask for fees to list coins and tokens, the presence on the Coinbase app has been seen as the holy grail of crypto coins. With its extremely limited portfolio, the exchange sets the pace for US-based buyers, who represent one of the largest sections of the crypto community, on par with Asian traders.
In the past, both Litecoin and Ethereum have benefited from a listing on Coinbase, and DASH fought for admission, and failed. In the future, Coinbase may continue adding assets, but this happens much more slowly compared to larger exchanges with multiple trading pairs.
In the case of Coinbase, it is legal restrictions that are preventing the sale of some assets. In case a digital asset is considered an unlisted security, its sale to retail investors would be illegal.
After the news, XRP fell by more than 7% in the past day to $0.49. However, Ripple has gained a fiat on-ramp through Bitpanda, which recently listed the asset in its limited portfolio. The European exchange faces no problems with selling assets, but limits its offerings to prevent technological overload.
This article appeared first on Cryptovest