Exchanges ditch XRP, delist the battered cryptocurrency
Following the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s official announcement that it was suing Ripple and its executives for selling unlicensed securities, a handful of small exchanges have started suspending and delisting XRP trading.
Meanwhile, the price of the asset has reacted negatively to the news. The former third-ranked cryptocurrency by market cap has dropped to 4th place, giving way for Tether. The price of XRP has also plunged from around $0.52 on Monday to less than $0.31 as of press time.
According to the US watchdog, Ripple unlawfully sold more than $1.3 billion worth of XRP. CEO Brad Garlinghouse has refuted these claims stating that XRP is a currency and not a security or investment contract.
In response to the possibility that the SEC wins the battle, several US-based exchanges have started delisting XRP. Beaxy, OSL, and CrossTower suddenly announced the removal or suspension of XRP trading.
The SEC has charged @Ripple with conducting an unregistered security sale.
— Beaxy Exchange (@BeaxyExchange) December 22, 2020
Due to this, #Beaxy has halted trading for XRP pending further news. $XRP withdrawals will remain enabled until further notice. pic.twitter.com/lVVqXJPdPP
Please note: In light of US Securities & Exchange Commission’s enforcement action against Ripple Labs & 2 of its executives, we have suspended all #XRP payment in and trading services on the OSL platform, effective immediately and until further notice.https://t.co/EXJJEHMawn
— OSL (@osldotcom) December 23, 2020
Existing regulations demand that every company selling securities must register with the SEC. To avoid any run-ins with the law, these unregistered exchanges are rushing to delist the asset. To make matters worse, Bitwise Asset Management announced today that it had liquidated its position in XRP and diverted it into other portfolio assets.
