Cryptocurrency exchange and finance platform Crypto.com said Monday night it will delist and suspend trading in the U.S. of XRP, the cryptocurrency behind the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit against Ripple Labs last week.
- Effective Jan. 19, 2021 at 10am UTC, XRP will be delisted and trading suspended from the CRYPTO.COM App in the U.S.
- Crypto.com's move came later on the same day two other crypto exchanges, Coinbase and OKCoin, also announced suspensions of the XRP token.
- The SEC claimed last week that XRP is a security, and that Ripple has been selling it without registering or seeking an exemption for seven years, raising $1.3 billion in the process. The legal battle itself is just beginning, and litigation might take years if Ripple fights the charge in court, as it has indicated it would.
- Given that exchanges that handle the trading of securities have to fill out a lot more paperwork than those that don't, it's small wonder that crypto exchanges and market makers are backing away from XRP.
- Like Coinbase, Cypto.com said it will will continue to support the Spark (FLR) Token Distribution to XRP holders, which is currently set for the first half of 2021.
Read our ongoing coverage of the SEC’s case against Ripple and its impact on the industry here.