Crypto exchange Coinbase to suspend XRP trading after SEC files lawsuit against Ripple

Crypto exchange giant Coinbase said on Monday that it would suspend trading in the digital currency XRP after U.S. regulators last week filed a lawsuit against Ripple.

According to the South China Morning Post Report , Coinbase is planning to suspend trading in the digital currency XRP after US SEC last week charged associated blockchain firm Ripple with conducting a US$1.3 billion unregistered securities offering. The SEC named Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen in the lawsuit. The crypto exchange said trading in XRP was limited from 14:30 Pacific time on Monday and would be fully suspended on January 19 at 10:00 am.

Coinbase plans to go public.

The San Francisco-based Coinbase is preparing for a stock market listing and has confidentially applied to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to go public. It would be the first major US-based cryptocurrency exchange to list on the stock market. Earlier, the US 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. Coinbase is one of the best-known crypto platforms globally and has more than 35 million users in over 100 countries. The lawsuit has brought several troubles at once for the blockchain firm Ripple.

Ripple is all set to fight the lawsuit.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said that the firm plans to fight the lawsuit in a series of Tweets. Ripple CEO noted that the SEC – out of step with other G20 countries & the rest of the U.S. govt – should not be able to cherry-pick what innovation looks like (especially when their decision directly benefits China). “We are ready to fight and win – this battle is just beginning,” he wrote. The blockchain firm has maintained an escrow account of around 50 billion XRP, or around half of the total supply, which the CTO David Schwartz claims to have been ‘gifted’ by the creators of the third-largest cryptocurrency.