The SPY Of Crypto? Coinbase Launches Cryptocurrency Index Fund

Coinbase dashed the hopes of thousands of ripple investors, who've been holding out hope that the exchange would add the coin, when it revealed that its "major announcement" Tuesday afternoon was, in fact, the introduction of the Coinbase Index Fund, a pioneering investing vehicle that just might do to cryptocurrencies what the ETFs like the SPY did for stocks. 

The company published the announcement on its blog:

We’re excited to announce Coinbase Index Fund.

Coinbase Index Fund will give investors exposure to all digital assets listed on Coinbase’s exchange, GDAX, weighted by market capitalization. If a new asset is listed on the exchange, it will be automatically added to the fund.

Index funds have changed the way that many people think about investing. By providing diversified exposure to a broad range of assets, index funds enable investors to track the performance of an entire asset class, rather than having to select individual assets. We’re excited to give our customers the ability to invest in the potential of blockchain-based digital assets as a whole.

Twitter users were unimpressed however because, as the company pointed out, Coinbase and associated exchange GDAX only lists four coins...

The news had some impact on the price of cryptocurrencies, which have been slumping Tuesday, with Ripple lower and the rest bouncing marginally higher...

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