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Meanwhile, bitcoin is on track for its longest monthly winning streak in more than a year after touching a record above US$28,000 at the weekend. Photo: Getty Images

Coinbase to suspend trading in cryptocurrency XRP after US watchdog filed charges against its creator, Ripple

  • US regulators last week charged associated blockchain firm Ripple with conducting a US$1.3 billion unregistered securities offering
  • The move comes as Coinbase is preparing to become the first major American cryptocurrency exchange to list on the stock market
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase said on Monday it would suspend trading in the digital currency XRP after US regulators last week charged associated blockchain firm Ripple with conducting a US$1.3 billion unregistered securities offering.
The move by San Francisco-based Coinbase comes as the firm is preparing for a stock market listing and has confidentially applied to the US Securities and Exchange Commission to go public. It would be the first major American cryptocurrency exchange to list on the stock market.

Coinbase said trading in XRP was limited from 2.30pm Pacific time on Monday, and would be fully suspended on January 19 at 10am.

The SEC has charged two Ripple executives for personal gains they received from the offering.

Ripple created and sold XRP, the third-biggest cryptocurrency by market value.

Founded in 2012, Coinbase is one of the best-known cryptocurrency platforms globally and has more than 35 million users in over 100 countries.

Meanwhile bitcoin, the biggest cryptocurrency, is on track for its longest monthly winning streak in more than a year after touching a record above US$28,000 at the weekend.

It reached an all-time high of US$28,365 on Sunday before paring some of the advance yesterday, according to a composite of prices compiled by Bloomberg. The run of outsize returns in October, November and December so far is the longest such stretch since mid-2019.

“My sense is we’re very close to a top – we could hit US$30,000 though,” said Vijay Ayyar, head of business development with cryptocurrency exchange Luno in Singapore. “We should definitely see a pullback, but the magnitude is probably lesser. We might only see 10 per cent to 15 per cent drops.”

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