Zcash (ZEC), a privacy-focused cryptocurrency with a market valuation of over $300 million, is the next coin to join eToro’s list of featured virtual assets.
The introduction of new instruments adds to eToro’s rapidly expanding suite of cryptos. The Israeli social investment platform has had a string of recent announcements in a major push to attract crypto traders and grow its user base. Last month, Gibraltar’s financial services watchdog has awarded its cryptocurrency arm, eToroX, its bespoke license for blockchain firms using distributed ledger technology.
In addition to Zcash, eToro customers can already trade the actual underlying assets of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, XRP, Litecoin, Ethereum Classic, Dash, Stellar, NEO, EOS, Cardano, IOTA, and BNB. The latest addition expands the total number of cryptocurrency assets available on eToro’s platforms to fourteen.
Diversification with higher-ranked coins
Unlike many other brokers, eToro does not simply adhere to offering crypto CFDs but also allows clients to purchase the assets, with eToro acting as custodian and holding the digital coins on behalf of clients.
In addition to clients’ ability to purchase actual Zcash tokens, the coin will also be implemented on eToro’s CryptoPortfolio, which promotes the simple diversification through focusing on cryptocurrencies with a market cap above $1 billion and minimum average monthly volume of $20 million.
Established in 2016, Zcash is a proof-of-work based cryptocurrency and peer-to-peer payments protocol which gives users the option to send transactions privately.
At the time of writing this article, ZEC trades around $53.5 up nearly two percent during the day. ZEC is still ten times lower off the peak it hit earlier in February at $499 and is currently ranked 21st based on market capitalization, according to CoinMarketCap.
Commenting on the news, eToro co-founder and CEO Yoni Assia said: “The way in which we transfer money from person to person, or company to company is constantly evolving. It is not surprising that others have taken on some of the core ideas behind Bitcoin and developed new payment networks with additional features – in the case of Zcash – privacy. We are excited to offer ZEC to eToro investors as they seek to diversify their cryptoasset holdings.”
(Photo: flickr)
