Coinbase Begins Taking Ethereum Classic Deposits, Raises Buy Limit to $25,000

It’s been a tough week for most cryptocurrency investors, as the groundbreaking news that the world’s largest stock exchange operator is launching a bitcoin market failed to translate into bullish price movement. For ethereum classic supporters, however, the week could not have gone much better.

Coinbase Pro Begins Taking Ethereum Classic Deposits

Over the past two days, ethereum classic has been listed on two of the most prominent cryptocurrency trading platforms.

Yesterday, as CCN reported, ethereum classic became the sixth cryptocurrency listed on stock trading app Robinhood, whose crypto trading service is now available in 19 U.S. states.

Earlier today, ethereum classic marked another milestone, as industry giant Coinbase began accepting ETC deposits on Coinbase Pro (formerly GDAX), its order-book cryptocurrency exchange, with trading against both USD and other cryptoassets slated to commence later in the week.

Ethereum classic is not yet available through the firm’s eponymous brokerage service, though it will presumably be listed once the market stabilizes on Coinbase Pro.

The two announcements have spurred a significant ETC price rally. Over the past week, ethereum classic has risen in value by more than 11 percent against the U.S. dollar, making it not only the top performer among coins with market caps in excess of $1 billion but also the only large-cap cryptocurrency to see positive price action over this period.

At present, ethereum classic is trading at a global average of $18.59, which provides it with a $1.9 billion market cap and ranks it as the 12th-largest cryptocurrency.

Coinbase Raises Daily Buy Limit, Nixes 5-Day Waiting Period

Also on Tuesday, Coinbase rolled out several improvements to its brokerage platform. First, the company raised the default daily buy limits for Coinbase users to $25,000, a seven-fold increase over the previous maximum, and eliminated buy and sell limits for wire transfers.

Perhaps even more significantly, Coinbase will now allow users to begin trading cryptocurrency immediately following a purchase. Previously, users had to wait for the bank transfer to settle before receiving their funds, a process that could take up to five business days. Now, users will be able to trade those funds immediately, though they will not be able to transfer them into an external wallet until the bank transfer clears.

This latter update is particularly notable since it brings Coinbase’s settlement policy in line with that of its major cryptocurrency brokerage competitors — Robinhood, Circle Invest, and Square’s Cash App — all of whom make funds available for trading immediately after the purchase.

Coinbase President and COO Asiff Hirji lauded the move, calling it a “meaningful improvement” for the firm’s customers.