Another U.S. exchange Bittrex set to remove XRP markets in January

The U.S. exchange Bittrex has added its name to the list of trading platforms removing XRP markets. The exchange announced that it is delisting XRP trading pairs on January 15, 2021, until further notice.

The affected markets are BTC-XRP, ETH-XRP, USDT-XRP, and USD-XRP. The exchange further said that users will continue to have access to their XRP wallets on the platform after the trading pairs are suspended.

#Bittrex Customers:

The $XRP markets will be removed on Friday, January 15th at 4:00PM PST.

Details: https://t.co/1mefjC1ziw

— Bittrex (@BittrexExchange) December 29, 2020

Bittrex suspends XRP

Bittrex did not give an explicit reason for the removal of XRP trading pairs on its platform. However, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC’s) lawsuit against Ripple could be the main reason for the exchange’s decision.

Instead, the exchange pointed to its Market and Token Removal Policy which provides a list of factors that could lead to a cryptocurrency being delisted.

The policy lists “evolving regulatory standards and other compliance issues” as good grounds for delisting a project from its platform.

Ever since Ripple found itself in the crosshairs of the SEC, both minor and major exchanges have moved on to delist XRP. 

A number of exchanges including Bitstamp, Coinbase, CrossTower, and OKCOIN have all delisted the digital asset from their platforms. All eyes are now on Binance.US and Kraken – the major exchanges in the U.S – as they are yet to take their positions on the matter.

Ripple, which has described the lawsuit as an attack on the crypto industry, is adamant that it is clear of any wrongdoing.

XRP takes a beating

XRP has taken a major hit since SEC filed the lawsuit. It had the third-largest market capitalization before it slipped into the fourth position due to a price slump.

XRP’s price tumbled from around $0.6 to its current price of $0.2167.