Yesterday, Coinbase – the most popular American cryptocurrency app – announced the addition of Bitcoin Cash to its platform. The news sparked widespread excitement and even as virtually every other cryptocurrency was dipping, Bitcoin Cash got a big bump, rising more than $1,000 in 24 hours.
But not everyone was celebrating. On Reddit, accusations of fraud began to fly after some users felt Bitcoin Cash trading patterns in the run up to the Coinbase listing suggested insider trading.
Coinbase quickly denied this, but the accusations continued. Early this morning, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong posted via the company’s blog that given the pre-listing price rise, Coinbase will conduct an internal investigation to see if there was insider trading:
If we find evidence of any employee or contractor violating our policies — directly or indirectly — I will not hesitate to terminate the employee immediately and take appropriate legal action.
At the same time that drama was unfolding, the platform was also struggling with liquidity. Just a few hours after the launch, Coinbase was forced to temporarily suspend buys and sells on Coinbase’s GDAX trading platform, announcing that they will reopen today at 9 A.M. PST.
For Bitcoin Cash fans, the good news in all of this is that the BCH price remains high, and trading is (as of this writing) about to resume on GDAX. And excitement about its addition to Coinbase is likely to help sustain higher prices even in the long term. Coinbase lists just four cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and now Bitcoin Cash) and serves as one of the easiest fiat gateways for Americans, so Bitcoin Cash will benefit from being one of just a few options Coinbase users have for crypto investment.
