XRP, Ripple’s native cryptocurrency which increased by more than 15 percent in merely two days, will be delisted from BITBOX. The exchange is operated by Japan’s biggest messaging application LINE.

Why is XRP being delisted, and what impact will it have?

In a standard statement, the BITBOX team said that it actively observes every cryptocurrency listed on the exchange. If a cryptocurrency fails to meet its standards on performance, reliability, liquidity, or regulatory requirements, it said that it will delist.

“We keep a constant watch on all coins that are being traded on BITBOX. If a coin does not meet our standards based on its performance, reliability, liquidity, or law and regulatory requirements, it will be delisted from our exchange. To protect your assets and interests, we provide sufficient notice before delisting,” said BITBOX.

Since 2018, especially with the involvement of SBI Holdings in the creation of SBI Ripple Asia, a consortium of local banks utilizing XRP for payments, Ripple has maintained strong presence in Japan.

Hence, the major issue with XRP on BITBOX is likely to have been liquidity and overall volume. Had it been issues related to performance and reliability, other major exchanges in Japan like BitFlyer would also have delisted it in the past.

The low liquidity or volume of XRP could be exclusive to BITBOX in that users on the exchange are particularly not interested in trading XRP more than other major trading platforms in Japan.

Regardless, all major XRP trading pairs on BITBOX will be delisted by January 16, which include XRP against BTC, ETH, USDT.

XRP increased by more than 15% within two days in a strong rally (Source: TradingView)

The timing is awkward

XRP has struggled to break out of its stagnant price action for many months. As reported by NewsBTC, the last time the cryptocurrency had such a large single-day price movement is in May 2019.

The delisting of the asset on BITBOX comes during a period in which it is experiencing arguably one of its strongest rallies in the past year, further fueled by the integration of XRP by Binance Futures.

Considering that the volume of XRP has generally increased in the past two weeks off of its recent upside movement, it remains unclear as to why BITBOX swiftly moved to delist it in January.

It is also worth observing that Japan remains a major cryptocurrency market to actively support Ripple and its blockchain solutions.

Many local banks along with major financial institutions in South Korea have led testing of Ripple products in the past two years for cross-border transactions.