Christmas 2020 might not be something that the blockchain firm Ripple and the XRP investors would want to remember.
Needless to say, XRP has been on a downward spiral for the last two days. In yet another blow to the now 4th largest crypto-asset, Coinbase was reportedly considering delisting it. This was revealed by Cinneamhain Ventures partner Adam Cochran who went on to speculate that the SF-based cryptocurrency exchange was in discussion with a Counsel regarding the process.
His tweet read,
“Sources suggesting that Coinbase has already had discussions with counsel about the delisting of $XRP. It seems two potential plans are forming, one which puts the delisting on Friday. Unclear which Coinbase products it will impact but most likely Coinbase and Pro.”
Over the past week, XRP’s price fell by more than 51%. The coin incurred a loss of 30.39% over the last 24-hours alone. The sell-off was bolstered after Ripple and its two executives, received formal charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC].
Things worsened as several small crypto exchanges such as OSL, Beaxy, and CrossTower have paused XRP trading following the lawsuit. Coinbase is one of the most reputed and recognized crypto platform to exist. While there has been no official release regarding any potential delisting talks, if it does go ahead as speculated, it would be a huge blow to the already downtrodden coin market. It is important to note here that every exchange that has listed the token is at risk if XRP is considered security as alleged by the watchdogs.
According to SEC’s official lawsuit, Ripple allegedly entered into agreements with at least ten crypto trading platforms in 2017 and 2018. None of these platforms were registered with the SEC and at least two of them have principal places of business in the US, providing for listing and trading incentives in terms of XRP. SEC further went on to allege that Ripple paid these platforms a fee, typically in XRP, to permit the buying and selling of the crypto-asset and sometimes incentives for achieving volume metrics.
If found to true, these allegations alone would not only cause significant damage to Ripple but will also drag names of 10 cryptocurrency exchanges along with it to face severe consequences.