Coinbase official discusses the significance of institutional participation, market liquidity and more

On 13th September, Keyvon Pirastani of the leading cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase delivered a talk on ‘Institutional adoption of cryptoassets’ at the 2018 Ethereum Classic Summit held in Seoul, South Korea. Here, he spoke about the expansion of Coinbase into Asia, the significance of institutional participation in the cryptocurrency space and more.

Pirastani stated that Coinbase, being a US company is an attraction for North America as well as Europe in terms of consumer institutional businesses. However, he also mentioned that the exchange needs to pay more attention to Asia as the region holds a huge promise in the cryptocurrency space. Furthermore, Asia has a fair amount of potential in trading assets and innovation, stated Pirastani.

As the blockchain space has essentially penetrated the fabric of society across most of Asia, Coinbase has also begun to pay attention to the Asian markets. From a customer’s standpoint, Coinbase has already entered Japan wherein its office is situated in Tokyo. The platform is planning to launch Coinbase Japan by next year and will be consumer-offering. Coinbase is looking to seek institutional opportunities in the Asian markets.

Next, the Coinbase member mentioned the listing of Ethereum Classic [ETC] on his platform. During the time when the news broke, ETC was the only cryptocurrency that hit the greens despite the bear market. Pirastani believes that his company has put Ethereum Classic into the spotlight by placing it into brand new investment pools creating new liquidity in the market for the cryptocurrency.

Subsequently, the expert also conveyed the importance of instituti0nal participation in the space. He stated:

“Institutional investors, because they trade and invest for a living, have relatively higher standards from what they expect in terms of quality, in terms of infrastructure. […] And so when institutional methods come into the cryptospace, it helps validate, shows the world that crypto is real, it’s legitimate. And that the biggest players in the world have taken it seriously.”

He said that the second benefit of institutional participation in the cryptospace is that it diversifies, thereby providing quality and liquidity in the ecosystem. Currently, cryptocurrency is still a retail-lead asset class. The existence of institutional investors will mean that when the retail investor herd decides to buy, the institutional investors are happy to sell, and vice-versa. That is how the volatility will decrease and build a healthier marketplace for the community.