As of today, Coinbase has 139 tradable assets. The substitution added a whopping 83 avails to its trading list in 2022, about double the number of assets information technology had accumulated in the eight years since its founding.

Is this rapid expansion a simple greenbacks-grab? Are whatever of these lesser-known tokens and coins securities? Is this irresponsible or overly ambitious? What does this rapid expansion of avails by Coinbase mean?

A coin grab?

I feel the reply to the first question is an emphatic "No!" Coinbase is making a lot of coin on trading fees, but its token list expansion is not about the coin. Coinbase started out with a small booth at a conference "just trying to brand something that customers wanted," pitching T-shirts and a hosted Bitcoin (BTC) wallet. Now, Coinbase is the second-largest crypto exchange in the world.

It's a mutual tale that an entrepreneur builds something, finds success, sells and moves on, but Coinbase founder and CEO Bryan Armstrong was manning that small berth 8 years agone, and is nonetheless at Coinbase today. The exchange stays true to its — and Armstrong'due south — core values: economic freedom, property rights, a more efficient global arrangement of exchange, and in my stance, just building the things that customers want.

Back in June of this yr, Armstrong posted a series of tweets indicating Coinbase's modify of approach to determining which assets get listed. To sum information technology up, Coinbase shifted from a merit-based approach depending on internal criteria to a pragmatic approach based on externalities. This new arroyo allows the market place to decide which avails accept the most value — as it should be. Reminder: Practice your ain research, fifty-fifty if it is a Coinbase listing.

Related: The responsibility behind a crypto lender'southward asset listing

Securities?

Coinbase acknowledges and accepts its leadership office in shepherding in new regulation that is benign to the new economy. The substitution actually does seem to be enlightened of its leadership role in the crypto space, and works hard on compliance. It therefore wouldn't make sense for Coinbase to list a gang of assets that might provoke regulators (in the Us, "nonaccredited" investors are barred from early on project investment).

While the Securities and Exchange Commission is treating stablecoins as securities, Coinbase's listing parade has continued virtually weekly. It is very probable that there are assets added to Coinbase'southward trade pairs that the SEC would deem securities. However, the barriers that currently exist in the name of "investor protection" may finally exist coming down. Coinbase's aggressive listing activity squares with the economic freedom, stiff holding rights, and core values that it supports, and may even hint at undisclosed policy beingness discussed privately.

Every bit Melissa Strait, chief compliance officeholder at Coinbase, pointed out:

"Nosotros've e'er believed that for crypto to gain the legitimacy needed for mainstream adoption, compliance can't exist an reconsideration — it has to be core to the way we operate."

She also added: "We strongly believe that in guild for cryptocurrency to gain widespread acceptance, we must have a effective human relationship with the regulators and agencies that have been charged with oversight of the crypto ecosystem."

Nearly all the assets listed this year are ERC-20 tokens on the Ethereum network. Why? Because they would be accounted "sufficiently decentralized." This phrase is taken from a voice communication that William Hinman (old director of the SEC'southward Division of Corporation Finance) made in June 2022. So long as an asset is as decentralized equally Etherum was on the day of that voice communication, it is informally and tentatively not considered a security. Thanks, Hinman!

Related: Deterring adoption? Balancing security and innovation in crypto

Irresponsible or overly aggressive?

If there is one matter I have observed in researching this topic, it is that Coinbase is very organized and process-driven. I estimate it should be obvious, considering its success. Coinbase's team is enlightened of the legal circumstances in which the substitution operates, and has built controlling systems designed to continue pace with this breakneck industry. Armstrong himself said that he wants to on-board a billion customers. At present that's ambitious! Overly, though? Not if you believe in a free and open up financial system across the control of any cardinal actor.

Coinbase claims to be "agnostic" on listing tokens. That is, Coinbase doesn't make whatsoever judgement on the projects it lists, but rewards the builders that check all of the boxes of its list criteria. It is interesting to see the mix of projects that are making information technology onto the Coinbase platform. After all, a Coinbase listing is like making information technology to the big leagues.

What now?

Coinbase listed 16 DeFi projects in 2022. It doesn't come at a shock that decentralized finance takes the superlative spot. Showtime-layer projects came in 2d place with 12 — once more not really a surprise, as everyone wants to be the next Ethereum. In tertiary place were eight decentralized exchange tokens, while tied in 4th identify were stablecoins and NFT gaming, each with seven projects. Taking fifth place were layer-2 Ethereum projects.

Coinbase really stepped on the gas this year. It tin can hateful any number of things depending on who you lot ask. For me, it is a very bullish sign for the overall industry. Coinbase is giving its customers what they want: more than choices and more opportunities to find that undervalued gem. Information technology'south up to each individual to exercise their own due diligence. What some would call the most "convenient" platform around is providing access to a decent number of assets now. Having the freedom of choice is a responsibility — choose wisely, or y'all may find that the SEC will experience the need to cull for you.

This article does not contain investment communication or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should acquit their own research when making a decision.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Stephen J. Mesa is the unofficial "ambassador" of Cointelegraph Markets Pro. He is a commercial sales manager of lawn and leisure at John Deere Equipment, with sixteen years of experience as a existent estate marketplace annotator and 10 years designing and installing custom car audio and alert systems.