Coinbase added Litecoin for direct purchase today, and litecoin (LTC) is up about 30% as a result. The rumor of this addition may have also contributed to LTC’s 100%+ rally over the last 2 months.
The only other currency Coinbase added (beyond its initial offering of Bitcoin) was Ethereum back on July 21st 2016, just a day after Ethereum’s hard fork. Ethereum’s addition to Coinbase produced an immediate 14% rally, although it’s hard to tease out the real effect given the volatility surrounding the hard fork. Ethereum’s accessibility on Coinbase (and then Gemini) likely contributed to its massive rally over the following 9 months.
Are these rallies rational? Yes. There is a very heavy accessibility premium in cryptocurrency valuations. As a cryptocurrency becomes easier to purchase and easier to store, it’s valuation should rise…and it clearly does.
What does this mean for investors? We enjoy a tailwind if we’re willing to invest in cryptocurrencies that are harder to access. If and when those cryptocurrencies then become more accessible either by being added to Coinbase, offered in trust form, or purchasable via ETF, we can expect the valuations to generally rise substantially.
