The price of Fetch.aiâs native token (FET) has endured a roller-coaster run over the last 24 hours following its listing on the U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase on Wednesday.
More important than price, however, is that the listing itself is a âgroundbreaking momentâ for the blockchain machine-learning platform, Fetch CEO Humayun Sheikh told CoinDesk via a spokesperson on Wednesday.
FET is an token that is based on the Ethereum blockchain and that powers applications on Fetchâs platform, which provides users access to artificial intelligence and autonomous agents in manufacturing and supply chains, among other areas.
Prior to the listing, most of Fetchâs retail investors came from Europe.
The listing âhas a very powerful branding effect on the project,â Sheikh said. âWith millions of retail investors based in the U.S. looking to invest in cryptos beyond bitcoin and ether, the FET token will gain additional awareness and trading volume due to the listing.â
Prices for FET shot up in the days prior to the announcement, rising 75% from July 17 lows of around $0.19 to a top of $0.42 on Monday, two days prior to Fetchâs big moment, Binance data show.
That is not unusual for a coin being listed on one of the worldâs best-known exchanges. Often dubbed the âCoinbase Effect,â the phenomenon is when a cryptocurrency experiences a sharp uptick in price preceding and following its listing.
After the listing, though, a cryptoâs price tends to cool as speculative traders look to cash in on the hype surrounding the cryptoâs new home. On Coinbase, prices for FET are down considerably from a local high of $0.65 on Tuesday. Thatâs $0.23 more than Binanceâs local top.
Asked if the project would liquidate some of the value of its tokens to fund further development of the platform, the CEO said Fetch âkeeps all options openâ but generally focuses on investors and partnerships.
Sheikh also said that while he isnât at liberty to discuss the process for a Coinbase listing, it did involve a âlot of due diligenceâ on security, legal, technical and compliance matters.
The âprocess can take months and years as they review every aspect of the project before they decide to go ahead,â Sheikh said.
FET was last seen changing hands for around $0.34 on Coinbase with lower- than-average hourly trading volume following price action that had cooled down by Wednesday evening.