Coinbase bets on USD delisting 80 pairs with USDT, BTC and EUR

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has removed a few dozen trading pairs from its platform to ‘improve overall market health and consolidate liquidity.’

Coinbase is paving the way for the U.S. dollar on its platform as the exchange has announced the removal of 80 non-USD trading pairs from its list. As per the exchange’s status page, Coinbase mainly delisted trading pairs with euro (EUR), the British pound (GBP), Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Tether (USDT).

Coinbase says the removal only affects non-USD markets across its main exchange, Advanced Trade, and Coinbase Prime, a prime brokerage solution. The trading pairs include SUSHI/EUR, STORJ/BTC, IOTX/EUR, ZRX/BTC, and others.

Although the exact cause behind the removal is unknown, Coinbase said it removed the pairs to “improve overall market health and consolidate liquidity.”

The move is expected to boost trading activity on key trading pairs such as BTC/USD or ETH/USD after Coinbase saw a 50% decrease in spot trading volume in Q3 2023 compared to Q4 2022-Q1 2023.

As of press time, the most active trading pair on Coinbase is BTC/USD, with a daily volume set at $224.3 million, according to data from CoinGecko.

Aside from the trading activity hurdles, Coinbase has also been entangled in a legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) since June 2023 over allegations of operating as an unregistered exchange.

While there are other ongoing lawsuits in the crypto industry, the Coinbase case has garnered the most attention, indicating how digital assets might be treated under U.S. law in the future.