OKCoin, one of the oldest cryptocurrency exchanges, is slated to suspend XRP trading as well as deposits on Jan. 4, 2021, due to a sweeping SEC lawsuit against Ripple, according to a Dec. 28 announcement:
We have been closely monitoring the news surrounding the December 22nd SEC lawsuit against Ripple, the company behind XRP, and two of its key executives. As the lawsuit proceedings take place, we have determined it is the best course of action to suspend XRP trading and deposits on OKCoin effective January 4, 2021.
Margin traders will have to return borrowed XRP tokens before 7:00 PM PST, Jan 3, 2021 (03:00 UTC, Jan. 4, 2021). Otherwise, their positions will get liquidated.
The exchange says that the suspension will be in effect until further notice:
We will proactively inform our customers when we have information that may change our position.
The SEC alleges that XRP, the fourth-largest cryptocurrency, is an unregistered security. Multiple exchanges, including Bitstamp, have moved to drop the token over the past few days.
XRP dipped six percent on the OKCoin announcement before paring some losses.
Alex DovbnyaOKCoin to start trading Blockstack’s token
Earlier this December, OKCoin became the very first U.S. exchange to list Blockstack’s STX token.
In its statement, the exchange claimed that STX had successfully transitioned into a “utility token”:
After our compliance team carefully reviewed the Blockstack statement of decentralization and the PoX mechanism, we’ve concluded it has successfully transitioned from a security to a utility token, and thus OKCoin can and make STX available to U.S. users for the first time.
In July 2019, Blockstack obtained landmark approval from the SEC that allowed it to hold the very first regulated sale of tokens.
Arman Shirinyan
U.Today Editorial Team
Vladislav Sopov
Dan Burgin