Last Tuesday, Coinbase filed an amicus brief in support of Ripple in the lawsuit between Ripple and the SEC. Does this mean the exchange is considering re-offering XRP on its platform?
Coinbase Shows its Support for Ripple
That Coinbase wanted to submit an amicus brief in support of Ripple Labs came as a complete surprise to many in the XRP community. It is therefore not surprising that some speculate that the major crypto exchange may want to start offering Ripple’s XRP token again.
According to the amicus brief, Coinbase, along with other US cryptocurrency exchanges, was forced to suspend trading activities for the XRP token due to the SEC case against Ripple in December 2020.
Coinbase argues that the lawsuit therefore created a knock-on effect that caused Ripple to lose nearly $15 billion in value. This was a blow that was mostly felt by XRP investors.
Is Coinbase going to offer XRP on its platform again?
Despite the show of support, there is no guarantee that Coinbase will add the XRP token again. It is highly likely that Coinbase, which has shown little support for XRP according to Ripple boss Brad Garlinghouse, will wait to see how the SEC vs. Ripple case unpacks before making a decision.
In addition, Coinbase’s amicus brief is not as friendly as some XRP investors think. Instead of backing Ripple and showing the SEC is wrong, the company mainly defends its own interests. Coinbase writes that there is a lack of clear rules from the SEC that prevents them from taking enforcement action against Ripple.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse previously stated that the only condition under which Ripple would be willing to settle with the SEC is if it admits that XRP does not qualify as a security. Garlinghouse expected that the court will rule on the case in the first half of 2023.