Coinbase launches Index Fund, won’t be adding Ripple support

Despite coming under pressure lately for alleged insider trading, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) is moving forward with its plan to conquer the world.

It recently announced the launch of an Index Fund for cryptocurrencies designed to give investors a clearer picture of major trends in the industry, much the same way as the Dow Jones Industrial Average provides projections.

In an interview with CNBC “Fast Money,” Coinbase President and COO Asiff Hirji said, “It’s a very simple to use, easy way to get exposure to the crypto-assets that we offer on our exchange.” Accredited U.S. investors will now have exposure to all assets on Coinbase’s GDAX exchange, with the currencies being weighted based on market capitalization.

Coinbase is the U.S.’s primary exchange for buying most major digital currencies. Users can find legacy Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and Litecoin on Coinbase’s GDAX exchange, but not Ripple. That marks a perfect segue into the next topic: Coinbase won’t be adding Ripple anytime in the near future.

Being the third most popular cryptocurrency does not necessarily equate to more privileges. Coinbase has come out, quite emphatically, to say that it won’t be bringing the digital currency to its trading exchange anytime soon. In fairness to Ripple, it has to be said that Coinbase also stated that other coins won’t be added, either.

Coinbase released a statement this week after rumors began to circulate that it could be adding Ripple to the exchange. It referenced a previously-released announcement from January, in which the company detailed its position on accepting new coins.

According to the statement, “A few months ago we released our Digital Asset Framework which highlights our criteria for supporting new assets…A committee of internal experts is responsible for determining whether and when new assets will be added to the platform…As of the date of this statement, we have made no decision to add additional assets to either GDAX or Coinbase. Any statement to the contrary is untrue and not authorized.”

The pre-denial rumors sparked a slight increase in Ripple trading. It gained about 6% to reach almost $1.07. After Coinbase refuted the rumors, Ripple began to drop and, at the time this article was written, is worth $0.85, a drop of a little more than 7% on the week.