Coinbase has announced[1] a plan to “rapidly add” new assets to its system through open applications. The announcement is seemingly a change in direction for the exchange, which typically takes a methodical approach to adding cryptocurrencies.
Currently, Coinbase supports Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Ethereum and Ethereum Classic. Essentially, they have only supported three cryptocurrencies and the two largest forks of those currencies.
The plan going forward is to add as many cryptocurrencies and tokens as possible, while adhering to a set of guidelines.
“Today we’re announcing a new process that will allow us to rapidly list most digital assets that are compliant with local law, by satisfying listing requests in a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction manner. [. . .] The new process begins with a form for issuers to submit assets for listing at Coinbase, which we will evaluate against our digital asset framework. The application form and the digital asset framework will be regularly updated, and our form will indicate the latest version of the framework we are evaluating against.”
The form includes what you would typically expect: Not being classified as a security and not preventing Coinbase from performing Anti-Money Laundering checks on their customers. With that in mind, privacy coins are likely not eligible.
But it does seem that ICOs that are not considered securities will be considered. The digital asset framework[2] referenced in the announcement has a whole section dedicated to ICO funded tokens.
It is not immediately clear how strictly Coinbase plans to adhere to their outline. It seems unlikely that every benchmark has to be met. Otherwise, some of the coins already on Coinbase would fail the test. One provision calls for a growing number of nodes under “Network Standards”.
“Growing # of nodes on the underlying blockchain. The project has
