US crypto exchange OKCoin is suspending XRP trading and deposits

Ripple • December 28, 2020, 1:35PM EST
UPDATED: December 28, 2020, 2:05PM EST
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U.S. crypto exchange OKCoin is suspending XRP trading and deposits on January 4, 2021, until further notice.

Sharing the news exclusively with The Block on Monday, OKCoin said the decision was made in light of the recent lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) against Ripple two of its executives. 

The SEC claims that XRP is a security and alleges that CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen have raised more than $1.3 billion via an ongoing, unregistered securities sale of XRP.

"It is likely that this situation will take time to reach a resolution," said OKCoin. "We will proactively inform our customers when we have information that may change our position."

OKCoin CEO Hong Fang told The Block that it was a "business decision taken in the best interest of our customers pending further guidance from the SEC on the case with Ripple."

Besides suspending XRP trading and deposits, OKCoin is also asking users who have borrowed from the XRP/USD margin pair (including borrowing XRP and USD) to return the borrowed value before January 3. "Delays will trigger a liquidation by our systems to close the loan contracts," said the exchange.

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Yogita Khatri profile picture Yogita Khatri

Yogita Khatri is a senior reporter at The Block and the author of The Funding newsletter. As our longest-serving editorial member, Yogita has been instrumental in breaking numerous stories, exclusives and scoops. With over 3,000 articles to her name, Yogita is The Block's most-published and most-read author of all time. Before joining The Block, Yogita wrote for CoinDesk and The Economic Times. You can reach her at [email protected] or follow her latest updates on X at @Yogita_Khatri5.

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