Kraken Crypto Exchange to Add 1,600 Coins: Is Trolling Coinbase Behind the Plan?

Kraken, a popular San Francisco-based crypto exchange, has recently posted a tweet about adding as many as 1,600 altcoins to their platform. Basically, they want to include all coins that are listed on  Coinmarketcap. 

Exciting and important revelation for the community today. Kraken has been contemplating the exploration of maybe adding over 1600 new coins, pending the outcome of our highly sophisticated review process. For a glimpse of the possibilities: https://t.co/dmfd5yr48s

— Kraken Exchange (@krakenfx) 14 июля 2018 г.

Throwing shade at Coinbase

Kraken’s brand new coin addition plan should be obviously taken with a grain of salt. Many Twitter users suggest that the exchange was simply trolling Coinbase in the wake of its announcement about listing five more cryptocurrencies.

It's just a troll reaction to the coinbase news, don't take it too serious.

— Mike van Rossum (@mikevanrossum) 14 июля 2018 г.

Y’all are the last exchange that needs to be trolling coinbase lol.

— Joey (@CryptoeyJoey) 14 июля 2018 г.

I'm pretty sure they are just being satirical in regards to the @coinbase news today.

— Thomas Zarebczan ???? (@TomZarebczan) 14 июля 2018 г.

Two rivaling exchanges

Despite all the differences, Kraken and Coinbase do have a lot of things in common. These American startups offer their customers fiat-to-crypto trading. They were founded around the same time and both of them are based in San Francisco. On top of that, Coinbase and Kraken are neck-to-neck competitors in terms of average trading volume (the 15th and the 16th places respectively).

When it comes to purchasing altcoins, Kraken has a significant advantage over Coinbase since it offers a wider choice of cryptocurrencies. Zcash (ZEC) and Stellar (XLM) along with three other coins are currently expected to be added to Coinbase. As of now, the exchange features only four major cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and Ethereum).   

Hurdles behind listing new coins

It is quite difficult for fully regulated and reputed fiat-to-crypto exchanges to add coins. New assets have to undergo a strict vetting process. Coinbase claims that the news about listing five additional currencies doesn’t mean that will be available on the exchange any time soon. First of all, the San Francisco-based company has to cooperate closely with state banks and regulators.

Will Kraken manage to translate its bombshell announcement into reality and add all 1,600 tokens following their ‘highly sophisticated review process’? Only time will tell.