- Coinbase Launch, the company’s IEO offering, is being actively worked on, according to CEO Brian Armstrong
- The platform was first mooted a year ago after other major exchanges had established the protocol
- Coinbase Launch might have missed the IEO window, with the space having moved on to DeFi
Coinbase is actively working on its Coinbase Launch token sale platform, according to CEO Brian Armstrong, but there is a risk that the protocol will be outdated when it finally does launch. Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs) were all the rage in 2019, but with the emergence of DeFi platforms and tokens taking the crypto world by storm in 2020, is there still a place for token offerings, or is the exchange giant wasting its time on an already outdated model?
The IEO Craze Has Passed
Coinbase first announced the potential for an IEO platform in September last year, nine months after Binance had kickstarted the trend with the BitTorrent IEO in January that year. At the time the IEO craze was in full swing, with other exchanges such as KuCoin and Kraken following suit and launching their own IEO platforms.
The IEO craze may have kept going longer had it not been for the emergence of DeFi platforms, where early investors quickly realized that much bigger gains were to be made. As a result, attention has shifted from the IEO space so much that it barely gets a mention now compared to farming and yields.
Coinbase Launch Could be a Destination For Serious Projects
Armstrong confirmed last month in a podcast that Coinbase Launch was in the works, although no launch date has been suggested. Assuming it launches in 2021, this will be two years since the first IEO and there is a danger that the space will have moved on so far that no one cares about IEOs anymore.
This could work against Coinbase in one way, in that less interest means less money being invested, but it could also mean an increase in the quality of projects launched on the platform. In a quiet IEO market no developers would be able to rely on millions pouring in from those wishing to flip the IEO for a quick gain, meaning that only serious projects would even bother applying.
What might not be good for Coinbase then may be good for the overall space, and Coinbase Launch may be able to carve out a reputation as a launchpad for quality blockchain projects rather than hype-driven scams.
