Major cryptocurrency exchange COINBASE will suspend trading for the XRP token in response to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission taking legal action against Ripple.
According to a blog post released today by Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal, the exchange will fully suspend XRP trading starting on Jan. 19 at 10:00 AM PST. Coinbase clarified that “trading may be halted earlier as needed” to maintain the exchange’s market health metrics.
"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 Coinbase. "We will continue to support XRP on Coinbase Custody and Coinbase Wallet."
The U.S.-based exchange is the largest so far to take a position on XRP following the Dec. 22 announcement that the SEC would charge Ripple, CEO Brad Garlinghouse, and co-founder Chris Larsen with conducting an "unregistered, ongoing digital asset securities offering."
Earlier today, crypto exchange OKCoin announced that it would suspend XRP trading and deposits beginning on Jan. 4. Bitstamp stated it would halt XRP trading for U.S. residents, while smaller exchanges including OSL, Beaxy and CrossTower announced they would take similar actions against trading the token.
Following the Coinbase announcement, the price of XRP immediately dropped more than 10%, falling from $0.28 to $0.25 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.
This story is developing and will be updated.
