XRP collapses after Coinbase backs away
Coinbase will suspend XRP trade next month to avoid collateral damage from an impending legal battle between Ripple Labs and the SEC.
Starting January 19, Coinbase users can only withdraw and deposit their XRP, but the company will still offer custody solutions to whales.
US regulators say Ripple sold $1.3 billion in unregistered securities over the past 7 years — rendering XRP more akin to stocks than a currency like Bitcoin.
[Read more: SEC vs. Ripple Labs – is XRP a security?]
XRP’s price dropped by a third after Coinbase’s announcement and now trades 70% below its two-year high set in November, having suffered its worst week in history last week.
Crypto pariah. A raft of crypto exchanges and market makers — both US and international — have already dropped XRP, including Bitstamp, OKEx, Galaxy Digital, and Crypto.com
Asset managers Bitwise even sold its entire stash, and payment processor Simplex refuses to process XRP transactions at all.
Major exchanges Binance and Kraken are noticeably still silent, but it seems a matter of time until they follow suit.