Coinbase has launched free trading signals for users to “independently create and manage their own crypto strategy.” The signals, which Coinbase claim are the first of their kind in crypto, will be offered in addition to existing market data that Coinbase already provides and will offer “accurate, objective measurements of cryptocurrency usage” based on the anonymized activity of Coinbase customers, allowing long term investors and traders alike to “think beyond price” when forming their crypto strategies.
Starting today, we’re making exclusive trading data available to any Coinbase customer. Trade smarter with trading signals, only on Coinbase. pic.twitter.com/aVAbIUEqzR
— Coinbase (@coinbase) July 17, 2019
The Signals Categories
The signals service will be comprised of four key elements, which are broken down as follows:
- Top holder activity – How the biggest owners of a particular asset (the top 10%) interacted with that asset in the last 24 hours, whether increased, decreased or held their holdings. Updated approximately every 2 hours.
- Typical hold time on Coinbase – The median number of days a particular asset stays in a customer’s vault or wallet before being sold or moved out. Updated approximately every 24 hours.
- Popularity on Coinbase – A ranking of how many customers hold a particular cryptocurrency, out of all tradeable assets. Updated approximately every 24 hours.
- Price correlation – How cryptocurrency prices have moved in relation to each other. Updated approximately every 24 hours.
Speaking to the Financial Times, Max Branzburg, head of consumer product, said that the feature would allow customers to “make more informed decisions” when it comes to crypto trading:
This will be really useful for those who are new to the world of crypto. It will help them get up to speed and get to know the market better. We think trading signals, backed by verified transactional data, are an important step towards raising the level of trust in the crypto-economy.
Muted Response From the Community
The reaction to the news was muted, with most responses to the official Tweet coming from people requesting lower fees on the platform, asking Coinbase to list their favorite coins (including XRP which was listed in February), and one person who wanted to know “How do you trade the oins [sic] with shares, etc?” The amount of positive responses to the news could be counted on one hand, so it’s safe to say that while Coinbase thought this news was exciting, the community thought otherwise.
