Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken is the latest high profile firm to halt trading of XRP for its US-based users.
The exchange announced the decision on January 15, following in the footsteps of other major exchanges that have either suspended XRP trading on their platforms or outright delisted XRP. The likes of Coinbase, eToro and Bitstamp have taken similar action – while Grayscale Investments has completely dissolved its XRP Trust after liquidating its XRP holdings.
“Given the recent SEC filing against Ripple Labs Inc., we are halting XRP trading for U.S. residents no later than January 29, 2021 at 5pm PT (January 30, 2021 at 1:00 UTC). We may begin implementing this process at any time on January 29, 2021, so all U.S. clients are strongly encouraged to resolve their positions prior to that day,” a statement from Kraken read.
Residents in the US that have open XRP trades are urged to satisfy their resolve their trading positions or those positions will be cancelled and liquidated by the firm on January 28. Nevertheless users will still be able to deposit, hold and withdraw XRP on Kraken.
Clients that live outside of the United States will not be affected and Kraken’s XRP markets will continue to operate.
SEC vs XRP and Ripple
In December 2020 the SEC made headlines as it announced its intent to launch a lawsuit against Ripple, CEO Brad Garlinghouse and executive board chairman Christian Larsen for what it deems to be an unregistered security offering of XRP over the past six years.
While Garlinghouse and Ripple have made compassionate pleas to the wider cryptocurrency community to allow the firm to prove its case against the SEC’s claims in court, cryptocurrency exchanges and service providers have moved quickly to limit the damage from the ongoing windfall of the looming legal battle. The case is due to begin pre-trial proceedings in February 2021.
