I and any other users of the world’s most popular cryptocurrency trading platform got the e-mail just this morning: as of January 1, 2018, Coinbase will support the buying and selling of Bitcoin Cash.
This is a pretty big deal given how much of an uproar there was about Coinbase’s original position on the matter.
As we noted earlier this week, users of the platform were up at arms even before Bitcoin’s fork took place on Tuesday, and many even threatened to sue the platform as Bitcoin Cash took off in its first day.
Coinbase was clear from the start that it would not be supporting Bitcoin Cash transactions, though anyone with either form of Bitcoin in their Coinbase account at the time of the fork would have their coins safely stored.
However, Coinbase’s e-mail this morning stated that the company had changed its mind on the matter “based on factors such as the security of the network, customer demand, trading volumes, and regulatory considerations.”
The platform currently supports transactions for only three cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ethereum.
These are the most popular digital currencies to date, and they have the most practical uses.
That Coinbase has decided to support Bitcoin’s other half indicates that it may yet have a chance to rally beside the original coin.
Ethereum, if you remember, also went through a fork like this a while back. However, Ethereum Classic was much less widely adopted, and thus doesn’t appear on some of the biggest crypto-trading platforms, Coinbase included.
Could Bitcoin Cash still have a fighting chance against its predecessor?
Gaining support from the most trusted digital currency trading platform in the world is probably a good first step.
For now, Coinbase users can rest assured that both their original Bitcoin and their Bitcoin Cash will be held safely in their account until they decide to either move it, or save it until the first of the year. It’s worth noting that the price of both coins will likely have changed quite a bit by then.
Since the fork, all of the major cryptocurrencies have seen some improvement.
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Bitcoin Cash jumped nearly 200% in the first 24 hours of existence, though it’s since dropped to a more reasonable number as the hype died down.
Its next big test will come on August 8, when the SegWit update is supposed to go into effect. If the coin’s price continues to fall after that, even support from Coinbase won’t be able to save it. If the price resumes rising, however, investors could see some decent value out of this coin next year.
Bitcoin and Ethereum each rose in the days after the fork. Bitcoin reached nearly $2,870 early Friday, and Ethereum rose back above the $200 mark after a brief dip to $180 in the days before the fork.
Litecoin, the silver to Bitcoin’s gold, jumped above $40 the day before the fork and has remained in the $42 range ever since.
Keep in mind as the crypto-craze rages on that these “coins” were designed to be unlike any currency before… and so we’ll never quite be able to predict their movements using traditional currencies as a comparison.
We can say with some confidence that mass adoption is just around the corner.
Which currency will get the most attention, however, is something investors will just have to wait to see.
For more information on cryptocurrencies, click here to read our Cryptocurrencies 101 report.
