Coinbase, the US-based cryptocurrency exchange, is taking a step to enhance liquidity on its platform by discontinuing 80 non-USD trading pairs, including a variety of cryptocurrency pairs, stablecoins like Tether, and fiat currencies such as the euro.
The decision to remove these trading pairs, announced on October 16, aims to enhance the overall market health and liquidity. These pairs were disabled on Coinbase as well as other platforms like Advanced Trade and Coinbase Prime on October 16 at 19:30 UTC. This move aligns with Coinbase's earlier plans, unveiled at the beginning of October, to retire certain markets. Coinbase assured its users that, despite the removal of these trading pairs, they can still engage in trading activities using Coinbase's USD Coin on the more liquid USD order book.
In an effort to increase liquidity, Coinbase has, in the past, temporarily suspended trading pairs on its platform. In mid-September, the exchange delisted 41 more non-USD markets for the same purpose. Notably, while many trading pairs containing USDT were removed, none of the delisted markets included USDC, the stablecoin developed jointly by Coinbase and Circle.
These actions taken by Coinbase reflect the exchange's focus on augmenting liquidity, especially considering that its trading volumes have seen a significant decline this year. According to cryptocurrency market data provider CCData, Coinbase's spot trading volume for Q3 2023 was down 52% compared to the previous year.
This trend of declining spot market share has also affected other major cryptocurrency exchanges, such as Binance, which saw its spot market share decrease for seven consecutive months in 2023, dropping from 55% at the start of the year to 34% in September 2023, as reported by CCData.
