Coinbase to suspend XRP trading as price sinks another 10%. In reaction to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission taking legal action against Ripple, major Cryptocurrency Exchange Coinbase will suspend trading for XRP.
The exchange will completely suspend XRP trading beginning on Jan. 19 at 10:00 am PST, according to a blog post published today by Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal. Coinbase clarified that to maintain the market health metrics of the exchange, “trading may be halted earlier as needed.” In addition, the suspension is reportedly not affecting the forthcoming Spark (FLR) token airdrop of the Ripple-backed Flare Network.
“The trading suspension will not affect customers’ access to XRP wallets which will remain available for deposit and withdraw functionality after the trading suspension,” said Grewal. “We will continue to support XRP on Coinbase Custody and Coinbase Wallet.”
Crypto exchange OKCoin reported earlier today that it would suspend trading and deposits for XRP starting on Jan. 4. Bitstamp said that XRP trading for U.S. residents will cease, while smaller exchanges such as OSL, Beaxy and CrossTower have announced that they will take similar steps against token trading.
Now that a big player such as Coinbase has taken a stance on the token, some crypto users expect other exchanges falling in line like dominoes to delist or suspend XRP trading.
“You will soon see Kraken, Bittrex, Genesis, Grayscale and other members of the Crypto Rating Council delist it too,” said Twitter user PratikKala. “Liquidity will dry up and the remaining market makers in Asia will have to exit it too.”
Grayscale Investments may have already have distanced itself from XRP. According to Twitter user “ShardiB2,” the firm is allegedly ending subscriptions for its XRP Trust by announcing it would no longer accept new subscriptions or process pending ones. The Grayscale website declares that “The Grayscale XRP Trust private placement is currently closed.”
Following the Coinbase announcement, the price of XRP immediately fell from $0.28 to $0.19 at the time of publication. This is the latest in a series of bearish movements for the token, the price of which has fallen 44% since the SEC announcement.
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