Crypto token XRP falls as much as 31% after Coinbase says it will halt trading following SEC complaint against Ripple | Currency News | Financial and Business News

• XRP token fell as much as 31% after online platform Coinbase said it would suspend trading by mid-January.
• Last week, the US financial markets regulator filed a complaint against blockchain company Ripple over how it sells XRP.
• XRP has lost around three quarters of its value in six weeks.
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Cryptocurrency XRP fell by as much as 31% on Tuesday, after trading platform Coinbase said it would fully suspend the digital token from its marketplace by mid-January following the US financial markets regulator’s complaint against developer Ripple Labs.

XRP was last down 28% on the day at around $0.2018, having fallen to a session low of $0.2011 earlier in the day. XRP has lost around 75% in value since hitting a two-year high in early November, when investors took advantage of a weaker US dollar to pile into cryptocurrencies.

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.

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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 was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Business Insider.