In an announcement on October 2nd, Coinbase exchange revealed that it will be axing 80 cryptocurrency trading pairs on October 16th.

The largest crypto exchange in the United States said it regularly monitors markets on the exchange, and that the delisting comes as part of a bid to “improve overall market health and consolidate liquidity”.

These trading pairs are: ACH-USDT, AGLD-USDT, ARPA-EUR, ARPA-USDT, AUCTION-EUR, AUCTION-USDT, BADGER-EUR, BADGER-USDT, BAND-BTC, BAND-EUR, BAND-GBP, BNT -BTC, BNT-EUR, BTRST-BTC, BTRST-EUR, BTRST-USDT, C98-USDT, CTSI-BTC, DESO-USDT, ELA-USDT, ERN-USDT, FORTH-BTC, FORTH-EUR, GAL-USDT , HFT-USDT, IDEX-USDT, IOTX-EUR, KNC-BTC, KSM-USDT, LCX-EUR, LCX-USDT, LQTY-EUR, LQTY-USDT, METIS-USDT, NKN-BTC, NKN-EUR, NKN -GBP, NMR-BTC, NMR-EUR, NMR-GBP, OGN-BTC, PERP-EUR, PERP-USDT, POND-USDT, POWR-EUR, POWR-USDT, RAD-BTC, RAD-EUR, RAD-GBP , RAD-USDT, REN-BTC, REQ-BTC, REQ-EUR, REQ-GBP, REQ-USDT, RLC-BTC, SKL-BTC, SKL-EUR, SKL-GBP, SPELL-USDT, STORJ-BTC, SUPER -USDT, SUSHI-BTC, SUSHI-ETH, SUSHI-EUR, SUSHI-GBP, TRAC-EUR, TRAC-USDT, TRU-BTC, TRU-EUR, TRU-USDT, UMA-BTC, UMA-EUR, UMA-GBP , XYO-EUR, XYO-USDT, ZEN-BTC, ZEN-USDT, ZRX-BTC, ZRX-EUR”

These trading pairs are a drop in the ocean when it comes to the amount of cryptocurrencies available on the market – most of which are vapourware projects at best.

Newer entrants in the cryptofinance space tend to look for the latest projects that have yet to experience a boom and bust cycle. However, with over 1.8 million projects on the market, the odds of finding a diamond in the rough continue to decline precipitously.

Mounting pressures

The delisting announcement comes several weeks after Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, revealed that the exchange will begin supporting Lightning Network payments for Bitcoin and Litecoin. The two events suggest that Coinbase appears to be rediscovering its roots as various pressures mount.

Coupled with ongoing regulatory hurdles aggressively pursued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Coinbase has been under scrutiny alongside other crypto exchanges such as Binance.US. Tensions between major industry players and regulators have mostly increased with both sides displaying copious amounts of dirty laundry. In one legal complaint in June, Coinbase branded the SEC’s claims as an “extraordinary abuse of process”.

The SEC chairman, Gary Gensler, was recently taken to task during a House Financial Services Committee on Sept. 27, with congressmen accusing the Chairman of arbitrarily and capriciously thwarting cryptocurrency markets.

Coinbase reassured users that the imminent altcoin de-listings are an “an immaterial amount of Coinbase Exchange’s total trading volume.”


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