The United States-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is removing dozens of trading pairs in order to improve liquidity on its platform.
Coinbase has suspended 80 non-USD trading pairs, including those with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), stablecoins like Tether (USDT) and fiat currencies like the euro.
Announcing the news on Oct. 16, Coinbase said that the trading pairs’ removals aim to improve “overall market health and consolidate liquidity.” The trading pairs were removed from the Coinbase exchange and other platforms like Advanced Trade and Coinbase Prime at 19:30 UTC on Oct. 16.
The latest trading pairs’ removals on Coinbase align with the exchange’s plans to suspend the markets announced in early October. Coinbase emphasized that users of the affected platforms can still trade the markets in its “more liquid USD order books” by using the exchange’s USD Coin (USDC) balances.
“Please note these markets make up an immaterial amount of Coinbase Exchange’s total trading volume,” the exchange noted.
@CoinbaseExch regularly monitors the markets on our exchange. In an effort to improve overall market health and consolidate liquidity, we will be removing a number of non-USD trading pairs for certain supported assets.
— Coinbase Exchange ️ (@CoinbaseExch) October 2, 2023
Coinbase has been suspending trading pairs on its platforms to improve liquidity for a while. The exchange removed another 41 non-USD markets in mid-September, citing the same reasons. While Coinbase removed multiple USDT-containing trading pairs, none of the suspended markets included USDC, a stablecoin co-developed by Coinbase and Circle.
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Coinbase’s ongoing measures to improve liquidity come amid the exchange’s trading volumes tanking this year. According to the cryptocurrency market data provider CCData, Coinbase’s spot trading volumes for the third quarter plummeted 52% since 2022.
Other major cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance have also seen their spot market share dominance falling this year. According to CCData, Binance’s spot market share fell for a seventh consecutive month in September 2023, tumbling from 55% in early 2023 to 34% in September 2023.
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