Coinbase Removes 80 Trading Pairs to Boost Liquidity

The U.S.-based digital currency exchange Coinbase is eliminating dozens of trading pairs to enhance the platform’s liquidity.

Coinbase has suspended 80 non-USD trading pairings, which include cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, stablecoins such as Tether, and fiat currencies such as the euro.

Coinbase announced the news on October 16 and stated that the removal of the trading pairs is intended to enhance “overall market health and consolidate liquidity.”

80 non-USD trading pairs that were removed from Coinbase on Oct. 16. Source: Coinbase Status

At 19:30 UTC on October 16, the trading pairs were removed from the Coinbase exchange and other platforms, including Advanced Trade and Coinbase Prime.

The latest removals of trading pairs on Coinbase are consistent with the exchange’s early-October announcement that it would suspend the markets.

Coinbase emphasized that users of afflicted platforms can continue to trade on its “more liquid USD order books” using their USD Coin balances. “Please note that these markets represent a negligible portion of Coinbase Exchange’s total trading volume,” the exchange stated.

Coinbase has temporarily suspended trading pairs on its platforms to increase liquidity. In mid-September, the exchange eliminated an additional 41 non-USD markets for the same reasons.

While Coinbase removed a number of trading pairs that contained USDT, none of the suspended markets contained USDC, a stablecoin that Coinbase and Circle developed.

Coinbase’s ongoing efforts to boost liquidity coincide with the exchange’s plummeting trading volume this year. According to the data provider for the cryptocurrency market, CCData, Coinbase’s spot trading volumes for the third quarter of 2022 fell by 52%.

This year, the market share dominance of other main cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance, has also decreased.

According to CCData, Binance’s spot market share decreased for the seventh consecutive month in September 2023, falling from 55% at the beginning of 2023 to 34% in September 2023.