Coinbase Will Not Facilitate Token Migration for ASI

The U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has announced that it “will not be facilitating” the upcoming token migration for the Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (ASI). As a result, Coinbase users will need to navigate the intricacies of this highly anticipated token merger on their own.

The Artificial Superintelligence Alliance is a consortium of AI-based blockchain companies, including Ocean Protocol, Fetch AI, and SingularityNET. In April, this group announced that their respective tokens—OCEAN, FET, and AGIX—would be merged. While the Alliance stated that mechanisms for token swapping would be available, Coinbase has now clarified that it will not be participating in this process.

“For the ASI token migration, Coinbase will not move these tokens on behalf of users. However, users will be able to migrate their OCEAN and FET tokens to ASI using Coinbase Prime Web3 wallets or any other Ethereum-compatible self-custody wallets,” Coinbase stated.

Ocean (OCEAN) and https://t.co/pOEE8X2oY0 (FET) have announced a merger to form the Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (ASI). Coinbase will not execute the migration of these assets on behalf of users.

— Coinbase Assets 🛡️ (@CoinbaseAssets) June 26, 2024

The company further noted, “Coinbase does not currently support the [SingularityNET token] AGIX on our platform, which is why it is not included in this migration.”

Regarding the listing on its exchange, Coinbase added that “trading support will continue for FET and OCEAN until further notice.” Since the token merger will effectively consolidate OCEAN and AGIX into FET, it remains unclear how Coinbase will manage support for the renamed FET token if it does not facilitate the migration on its platform.

According to Fetch AI’s founder and CEO, Humayun Sheikh, Coinbase’s decision will not impact the merger of the three tokens.

“We confirm that the merger of AGIX and OCEAN into FET will take place on Monday, July 1,” Sheikh stated. Initially, the merger was scheduled for June 13, but the Artificial Superintelligence Alliance pushed back the date.

Ultimately, FET will become the official token of ASI as OCEAN and AGIX are phased out. “This transition will be seamless, and FET trading will not be interrupted or delisted,” the alliance assured in a prepared statement. However, the token will be renamed, potentially adding a layer of confusion for users. “The project will be rebranded as the Artificial Superintelligence Alliance on platforms like CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko.”

The group further noted, “Not all exchanges will be integrated immediately, but they will be as we move towards Phase 2 of the migration process.” Coinbase’s decision not to support the ASI migration is not the first time the exchange has opted out of facilitating token operations.

Last month, when Gala Games was preparing to launch their V2 token airdrop, Coinbase informed users that while they could transfer their tokens to self-custody wallets, the exchange would not support the transition. Coinbase disabled trading for the V1 GALA token and did not allow holders to receive the new token airdrop.

At the time, Jason Brink, President of Blockchain at Gala Games, expressed on Twitter his uncertainty regarding Coinbase’s stance. He speculated that it might be due to the event being perceived as a “new token drop” rather than a replacement for the old tokens.

Brink commented, “I hope that once there is more clarity, they will decide to support the V2 token.”