Coinbase Breaks Long-Time Bitcoin-Only Stance in Favor of Ethereum

July 25, 2016 By: Steven Anderson

The recent Ethereum hack might have hurt the crypto-currency’s long-term support chances, but a recent move from a fairly major figure in the exchange market, Coinbase, may give it a little help getting over the hump, as the company scrapped its bitcoin-only support system in favor of adding Ethereum to the mix.

Coinbase not only offers exchange services for the professional trader, but also for the everyday consumer. An easy to use interface makes it a simple matter to trade in bitcoin, which is the kind of thing that kept a lot of potential investors out of the picture. Now, those who’d like to get in on the early days of Ethereum can do so more readily by going through Coinbase.

This isn’t the first time Coinbase has stepped out in favor of Ethereum; earlier this spring, Coinbase’s co-founder Fred Ehrsam got a blog post going that was very positive in Ethereum’s favor. Ehrsam’s post referred to Ethereum as being right at the front of developments in the digital currency market, regarding Ethereum as an improvement over bitcoin as opposed to an imitator or a product that offers a few minor tweaks.

Coinbase also, about the same time the blog post came out, opened up trading in Ethereum on the GDAX exchange, which was a further push in its favor. In a note of future-proofing, word from Coinbase is that Ethereum might not be the last new addition to the company’s roster, as, later on, it’s likely to add support for a variety of new crypto-currency measures.

There’s been a lot going for Ethereum lately, and even a recent hack may not have slowed it down that much. Remember how, following the attack, Ethereum started working in a fashion that would invalidate the stolen currency and fold it back into the main mining operation. That’s a move that helped the average user, and may well have suggested a resiliency and devotion to the user that many may not have expected. That might well have given it the respect needed for Coinbase to step in.

It will be a while before the full impact of this move is apparent, but if Ethereum is on par with bitcoin in respect, it may well reach a par point in value as well. Functional, though not explicit, endorsements like this can’t hurt.