- The decentralized storage network, Filecoin, is about to launch its mainnet later today.
- However, before the launch, its coin FIL was listed on two major exchanges — Kraken and Gemini.
- The exchanges did not share their reasons for doing it, which has led to some speculation.
Filecoin (FIL) is a community-driven, decentralized, blockchain-based marketplace that is just about to see the launch of its mainnet. However, even before the mainnet launch, the coin is beginning to see support by some major exchanges, including Gemini and Kraken, which just announced adding trading support for this crypto.
FIL listed by Gemini and Kraken on the day of the mainnet launch
According to Gemini’s recent announcement, FIL deposits and withdrawals would start today, October 15th, which is also the day when Filecoin is planning to launch its mainnet.
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Trading of the coin will follow soon after the listing. In addition to that, Gemini also decided to add FIL to its custody service.
Kraken announced a similar kind of support, only it decided to do so ahead of Gemini, posting its announcement on Monday. However, it too decided to list FIL on the day of its mainnet launch, meaning today.
On Kraken, FIL will be paired against four currencies, including BTC and ETH, as well as two fiats, EUR and USD.
Why are the exchanges already listing FIL?
These announcements and listings are quite notable, considering that exchanges usually announce listings only after crypto projects launch their mainnets. So far, Gemini and Kraken are the only major exchanges to list the coin, although their motivations still remain unclear.
Some have speculated that this might be a start of a new trend, while others believe that the exchanges have a deeper understanding of the project, and that they are willing to make an exception. Kraken’s VP of product, Jeremy Welch, made sure to stress that this does not mean that the exchange will change its listing strategy in the future.
As mentioned before, Filecoin is a decentralized storage network that allows users to buy and sell unused storage. Naturally, the transactions are made with its native token, FIL.
The project is not exactly new, as it has been in development for over three years, starting in 2017. It also saw delays of the mainnet launch, which was originally supposed to go live in March 2020.
