Coinbase has reintroduced support for XRP in New York, allowing residents to buy and sell the cryptocurrency on its platform once again. The announcement was made by Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal, who emphasized the collaborative effort with the state to facilitate the return of XRP trading. Trading for New York customers had been unavailable since Coinbase suspended XRP trading in January 2021 following a lawsuit from regulators against Ripple Labs, the issuer of XRP, regarding its status as a security. Despite a court ruling later clarifying that secondary sales of XRP did not constitute securities transactions, New York’s regulatory framework made it challenging for cryptocurrency companies to operate within the state.
New York is known for its rigorous regulatory standards, including the BitLicense program introduced in 2015, which requires digital currency companies to obtain a license to operate in the state. Very few companies have managed to obtain BitLicenses, making it difficult for cryptocurrency companies to offer services in New York. In September 2023, the New York Department of Financial Services removed XRP from its “Greenlist,” preventing licensed entities in New York from custodying or offering services related to XRP without individual approval.
Coinbase initially introduced XRP support for its retail platforms in February, but this did not include residents of New York and the U.K. Recently, Coinbase launched a “fast and free” payment service using XRP and USDC stablecoin as an educational resource to demonstrate the benefits of using cryptocurrency for cross-border payments. Ripple is currently trading at $0.5352 with a 24-hour trading volume of $1,439,575,221.18 and a 0.59% price increase over the last 24 hours. With a circulating supply of 55 billion XRP, its market capitalization is at $29,279,423,909.
Following Coinbase’s announcement, the trading platform Robinhood also made Shiba Inu (SHIB) available to trade with New York customers. Additionally, Robinhood listed Avalanche (AVAX) and Compound (COMP), expanding trading options for its users in New York alongside Shiba Inu. The availability of XRP on Coinbase and other cryptocurrencies on Robinhood in New York demonstrates a growing interest in cryptocurrency trading and a push to expand offerings for customers in the state. These developments provide New York residents with more opportunities to engage in the cryptocurrency market and explore different digital assets.
