Ripple’s XRP has seen things go from bad to worse, after falling from the number 3 spot by market cap. XRP now sits at number 4, with market cap of $9.01 billion.
The decline in the price of XRP has been as rapid as the rise of Bitcoin. Its price has tumbled from a November high $0.78716 to a new December low $0.18675.
On Tuesday, 29th December, Cryptocurrency XRP fell by as much as 53%, after trading platform Coinbase said it would fully suspend the digital token from its marketplace by 19th January following the US financial markets regulator’s complaint against developer Ripple Labs.
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The US Securities and Exchange Commission said on December 23 Ripple had effectively been running a $1.3 billion unregistered offering with its sales of XRP, which the regulator deems a security and not a cryptocurrency.
“In light of the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple Labs, Inc, we have made the decision to suspend the XRP trading pairs on our platform,” Coinbase said in a statement late on Monday.
“Trading will move into limit only starting December 28, 2020 at 2:30 PM PST, and will be fully suspended on Tuesday, January 19, 2021 at 10 a.m. Pacific Standard Time*,” the company said.
Coinbase added that the trading suspension would not affect customers’ access to XRP wallets and that these would remain available for deposits and withdrawals after the trading suspension.
Ripple CEO and co-founder Bradley Garlinghouse, who is named in the SEC suit, said last week in the company’s blog that the regulator had not given the firm “clarity” on whether its XRP token should be classified as a currency or a security.
Ripple’s XRP was once the darling of the crypto world. After having made inroads into bridging financial institutions with blockchain, Ripple Lab now looks to be in doubt.
Coinbase, which is the largest U.S exchange, by trading volume joins Bitstamp and other prominent exchanges to drop XRP.
A continued slide in liquidity doesn’t bode well for those hoping for a rebound. Much will now depend upon the SEC’s position and the outcome of the lawsuit.
At the time of this publication XRP was trading at $0.18653, down by 54.98%.
Source: investing.com
By; Nnamdi M.
