Coinbase Holds 3X the Amount of Ethereum (ETH) in Binance

The San Francisco-based exchange, Coinbase, holds approximately 8.7 million ETH coins—translating to over $3 billion at market rates as per a visual shared on Sep 29. 

Binance, Bitstamp Trails Coinbase in ETH Held

This is roughly 3X the amount held by Binance—which is one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges with presence in over five countries including the US. It is also several folds ETH held by Gemini, Bitstamp, Poloniex, and BitHumb. 

At this rate, it is clear that the exchange is quite popular despite its reach being capped as it predominantly serves clients in the United States and the United Kingdom.

The dominance could stem from its first-mover advantage and its solid reputation. Unlike other global exchanges–who regulators assert are skirting rules by avoiding to fold, Coinbase is compliant and with insurance. 

Moreover, the exchange hasn’t been hacked, an event that not only shreds customer confidence but also obstructs participation. This could boil down to the exchange’s listing rigor and leaning on security. 

Before the great ICO pump of late 2017, early 2018, the American exchange was conservative, only listing but a few coins from established and liquid projects. Bitcoin, ETH, and LTC were among the first coins to be supported. 

Tokens were given a wide berth. 

Because of this, rumors of listing led to the “Coinbase Effect.” Here coin or token prices would rally before and after its listing on the fiat-supporting ramp.

Shifting Listing Policy

However, in recent times, the exchange has changed its listing policy. The exchange now supports periphery but coins with decent liquidity and most recently DeFi tokens like UNI. 

This is a drastic shift of which Coinbase has been accused of rushing in because of FOMO, giving currency, and supporting newly minted tokens oiling an emergent and untested field rife with damaging exploits. 

Observers are concerned that the newly issued UNI token might be a security, syncing with Howey Test’s classification criteria. If that’s the case, Coinbase might have listed a token that might be under the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) radar.

Earlier, as BTCManager reported, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) asked Coinbase to regularly submit transparency reports following accusations of their dalliance with government authorities.