Coinbase brings back XRP support for New York residents

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is re-introducing support for XRP +0.22% in New York. 

Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal said Thursday in a post on social media site X that New York-based customers will once again be able to buy and sell XRP on its website and mobile applications. The re-listing comes after Coinbase withdrew support for the token roughly four years ago due to a legal battle over the token's status as a security. 

“We heard you and put in the work in strong partnership with the State [to bring back XRP support for NY-based clients),” Grewal said Thursday. “We are back up.”

Coinbase first rolled out support for XRP in the U.S. in 2019. However, the exchange suspended trading of the token in January 2021 amid regulators’ lawsuit against XRP's issuer, Ripple Labs. Ultimately, Coinbase brought back support for the token later that same year, but it continued restricting access to the token for New York residents.  

New York has notoriously stringent cryptocurrency-focused regulations. The Empire State's BitLicense, for example, has long been regarded as one of the most difficult — and costly — crypto operating licenses to obtain in the U.S.