- Coinbase has partially suspended XRP trading, with only limit trading allowed
- All XRP trading will cease on January 19, although withdrawals and deposits will still be allowed
- Other U.S.-exposed exchanges may well follow suit
Ripple’s end to 2020 got worse yesterday when it was announced that Coinbase had ceased XRP trading on its platforms pending the outcome of its case with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The exchange giant, which listed the token in February last year, announced yesterday that only limit trading would be possible until January 19, after which time no XRP trading would be allowed at all until the case was resolved. Coinbase is the latest exchange to suspend trading the fourth biggest cryptocurrency, with many more potentially to follow.
XRP Delisting Party Could Continue
Beaxy was the first exchange to delist XRP, doing so just hours after the announcement of the charges, since when other U.S. based crypto entities have followed suit, including market maker B2c2. Bitstamp has banned U.S. users from trading XRP, which is a stance that market leaders like Binance are thought to be taking, potentially banning the token from their Binance U.S. wing but letting other countries continue to have exposure to it.
In theory there is no reason for non-U.S. entities to ban XRP as U.S. securities laws do not apply to them, but this hasn’t stopped Coinbase going the whole hog. Coinbase added that withdrawals and deposits will still be allowed past the January deadline, allowing holders the chance to trade XRP at other exchanges.
Token Price Falls Again
The news resulted in further loss of value for the XRP token, which has endured a miserable end to 2020, retracing all the gains it made for the Spark airdrop:
The XRP market cap has more than halved in a week, cutting it well adrift of third placed USDT and putting it within reach of fifth placed LTC. Given that Ripple has pledged to fight the SEC lawsuit, 2021 will be a bleak year for the XRP army, with few places in the U.S. to trade the token and the shadow of the lawsuit, plus the others XRP is currently fighting, hanging over any good news that might come Ripple’s way.
