Bitcoin Cash Trading Pairs Disappearing – Delisted on OKEx and Kucoin
OKEx made the decision on 30th March, 2018, to close its markets in token trading relating to Bitcoin Cash (BCH).
The first BCH market appeared on OKEx in December of 2017. Now, less than four months later, the exchange has scrapped all of the trading pairs for the popular clonecoin.
A statement on the OKEx website said: “We will close all the trading pairs in BCH market of Token Trading at 18:00 Mar 30, 2018 (Hong Kong time, UTC+8) due to inadequate liquidity. While BCH will still be available for trading in BTC, ETH and USDT markets (BCH/BTC, BCH/ETH, BCH/USDT).”
The recent fall in the value of Bitcoin might grab the most attention, but the value of BCH has fallen by about 45% in the last month. Exchanges are getting rid of low-volume markets, with KCS, NEO, DENT and USDT also getting many of its trading pairs axed.
This move from OKEx follows Kucoin’s announcement earlier this week that they would close all trading pairs for BCH, stating: “...As we head into the 2nd quarter we are making many different changes to the platform based on user feedback. Several of the markets will be streamlined. KCS, USDT, and NEO will eliminate several pairs each, and [all] BCH pairs will be removed.”
If customer feedback really is at the heart of Kucoin’s decision to remove the BCH pairs, then it signals a lack of trading demand for the clonecoin.
Bitcoin Cash stands out in a long line of Bitcoin forks, and rose rapidly since its inception in mid-2017. Its price peaked on Dec 20th at $3,719, but at the time of writing this article, its price currently sits at $639, and is fluctuating on a downward trend.
The moves by Kucoin and OKEx are a response to the falling value of BCH, and not the cause of it. Industry experts say the removal of token trading pairs will not have a significant effect on the overall future of Bitcoin Cash, and merely see this as a logical streamlining move by the exchanges.
Bitcoin Cash arrived on the scene last year to great controversy when it appeared in the wallets of Bitcoin users for free. Copying Bitcoin’s blockchain as well as its code resulted in Bitcoin users receiving free BCH, equal to the number of Bitcoin they had in their wallets at the time.
A social experiment then ensued where the value potential of the cryptocurrency depended on whether or not its recipients ascribed value to it.
They did, and BCH markets started popping up everywhere. However, many still question the legitimacy of the currency and demand its removal from reputable exchanges.
A petition currently stand on Change.org, calling on Coinbase to remove BCH completely, saying: “This coin causes confusion among newcomers and is not good for the cryptocurrency ecosystem as a whole. The BCH fork splits Bitcoin (BTC) into 2 competing entities, which ultimately leads to decreased value and legitimacy of both coins.”