In a report gathered earlier last week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuit against Ripple Labs has forced the UK-based cryptocurrency market-maker to halt its trading XRP with U.S.-based counterparties, with effect from 24th December 2020.
B2C2, founded in 2015 and headquartered in London, has grown rapidly to become the leading cryptocurrency liquidity provider in Europe and America. The company provides 24/7 electronic execution in the major cryptocurrencies and fiat currency pairs.
Currently owned by SBI Holdings, the company offer continuous pricing and execution, no matter the time of day or the volatility in the markets, as well as seamless post-trade settlement. However, a basic requirement for Non-U.S. clients to trade XRP with the firm will be to pre-fund all their short trades.
The firm is acting based on a court order
According to the lawsuit filed on Tuesday, XRP’s parent company Ripple raised $1.3 billion over a seven-year period from retail investors through its sale of XRP on an ongoing basis. And now, with the SEC ruling, XRP could become a pariah token as platforms that continued to list the crypto may have to register as securities exchanges.
B2C2 is one of the largest market-making firms in the crypto market, and it operates in the U.S. through B2C2 USA. The unit, which launched in 2019, engages with B2C2’s U.S. counterparties and affiliates. In a press release earlier this week by B2C2 USA, the firm informed its clients that it might take further actions regarding trading XRP products.
It promised in the release that it would promptly notify clients of any future developments. A deadline of 3 PM EST was set for U.S.-based clients to trade XRP normally within B2C2. That being said, it did require clients looking to close XRP positions to execute their trade by voice.
B2C2 following the step of others
The move to halt trading XRP is not credited to B2C2, as a few other cryptocurrency markets have to lead the way in stopping the trade of the cryptocurrency. The development comes as cryptocurrency exchanges like Beaxy, Bitstamp, OSL, and CrossTower have said they were halting XRP (-3.46%) trading. Earlier in the week, market-makers Galaxy Digital and Jump Trading had also announced the stopping of XRP market-making.
SBI boasts good relationship with Ripple
SBI Holdings, who made the news earlier this month after acquiring B2C2, boasts of a unique relationship with XRP and Ripple. SBI is a firm admirer of Ripple and one of the leading investors of the company. SBI made investments in Ripple as it partook in the firm’s $200 million Series C funding. The Japan-based financial services firm SBI had also promised its investors that they would be getting their dividends in XRP.
