• Coinbase Wallet will, on December 5, cease supporting the four crypto tokens, with the exchange citing low activity.
• Meanwhile, the American crypto exchange giant announced the appointment of four new executives to boost its European expansion drive.

In a surprising announcement on November 29, popular US-based crypto exchange, Coinbase revealed that its Coinbase Wallet would no longer support four major digital coins as of December 5. The assets are Ethereum Classic (ETC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ripple (XRP), and Stellar Lumens (XLM).

According to Coinbase, the decision is part of its frequent evaluation to enable it to continue to move in new structures that will enhance accessibility on Web3. Accordingly, Coinbase cited “low use” as its reason for stopping its support for the four crypto tokens mentioned above.

However, the exchange has assured users that their balances from any of the four unsupported assets are still tied to their addresses and can be accessed through the Coinbase Wallet recovery process. Meanwhile, it is worth noting that the recent announcement refers to the Coinbase Wallet and Coinbase app delisting the tokens and not the company itself.

The sudden end of support for XRP surprises many, considering that it is the seventh-largest crypto asset by market capitalization. Moreover, XRP has had its fair share of attention due to its ongoing court case with the US SEC as the date for summary judgment was closer.

Coinbase halted XRP trading in January 2021 following the lawsuit between the coin issuer, Ripple, and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Furthermore, the leading American crypto exchange supported investors who filed a lawsuit against the Department of Treasury over the sanction against crypto mixer Tornado Cash, which the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control initiated.

Due to this, the exchange disclosed that its transaction volume dropped by 44 percent from $655 million in the second quarter of 2022 to $366 million in the third quarter of this year.

Coinbase makes additional appointments for European expansion

On November 28, the American crypto exchange giant announced the appointment of four new executives to boost its European expansion drive. Thus, Coinbase hired Michael Schroeder as its Germany division’s Director of Control and Cormac Dinan as the head of its Ireland division.

Furthermore, the exchange promoted Elke Karskens as the firm’s UK country director and Patrick Elyas as the director of market expansion for Europe, the Middle East, and the African (EMEA) region. Coinbase plans to roll out new digital financial products, onboard more customers, and partner with policymakers and regulators across the EU bloc.

The exchange stated that the EMEA region currently leads the way in developing crypto-friendly regulations citing guidelines from the EU, the UAE, and the UK. Like other large crypto service providers, Coinbase is also affected by the downturn in the industry, which was worsened by the collapse of the FTX exchange in November.

Due to the crypto winter, Coinbase reported in June that it had reduced its workforce by laying off 1,100 staff. Earlier this month, it also laid off an additional 60 people from its recruitment team.

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