Cryptocurrency trading platform B2C2 suspended the trading of XRP for US-based clients, The Block has learned, citing a representative of the firm. While the platform has not officially announced the suspension, the representative said the firm "will promptly" notify clients of any future developments.
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As iHodl earlier reported, SBI Holdings' financial subsidiary, SBI Financial Services, acquired B2C2 for an undisclosed amount. Hence, SBI Financial Services became the first financial group to run a cryptocurrency dealing desk. B2C2 said the acquisition positioned SBI at "the center of the cryptocurrency markets."
In the meantime, the Luxembourg-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp will also suspend all trading and deposits of XRP for its US customers starting from January 8, 2021, at 9 PM UTC. The exchange said its US customers will still be able to withdraw XRP from Bitstamp. Customers from other countries are not affected.
Other companies that have given up XRP included: Galaxy Digital, Jump Trading, Bitwise Asset Management, Simplex, CrossTower and OSL.
Bitwise also announced the liquidation of its XRP position under its own cryptocurrency index fund. The company says it does not want to invest in assets that are "reasonably likely to be deemed securities under federal or state securities laws."
XRP's share in the Bitwise index fund was 3.8%, which is equivalent to $9.8 million. The proceeds were invested in other portfolio assets of the company, most of which are represented by bitcoin (EXANTE: Bitcoin) and ether (ETH).
As iHodl reported earlier, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) submitted a lawsuit against Ripple Inc., in which it accused the company of unregistered offering of securities. The SEC says Ripple undertook distribution of the XRP tokens without registering offers and sales of XRP with the SEC.
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