Fetch.ai Token Has Volatile First Day on Coinbase, Listing Still 'Groundbreaking,' CEO Says

The price of Fetch.ai's 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 "groundbreaking moment" 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 Fetch's 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 Fetch's retail investors came from Europe.

The listing "has a very powerful branding effect on the project," Sheikh said. "With 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."

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 Fetch's big moment, Binance data show.

That is not unusual for a coin being listed on one of the world's best-known exchanges. Often dubbed the "Coinbase Effect," the phenomenon is when a cryptocurrency experiences a sharp uptick in price preceding and following its listing.

After the listing, though, a crypto's price tends to cool as speculative traders look to cash in on the hype surrounding the crypto's new home. On Coinbase, prices for FET are down considerably from a local high of $0.65 on Tuesday. That's $0.23 more than Binance's 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 "keeps all options open" but generally focuses on investors and partnerships.

Sheikh also said that while he isn't at liberty to discuss the process for a Coinbase listing, it did involve a "lot of due diligence" on security, legal, technical and compliance matters.

The "process can take months and years as they review every aspect of the project before they decide to go ahead," 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.

Read more: Fetch.ai Nabs $5M in Institutional Investment; Fireblocks to Add Support for FET Token