Coinbase Wallet will stop supporting Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum Classic, Stellar and Ripple’s XRP Ledger.
It is stopping support of these assets as of January 2023 due to “low usage,” Coinbase said in a note on its help and troubleshooting website.
CoinDesk reported on this update Tuesday (Nov. 29) and said that each of the four coins became prominent during the 2017 crypto bull market, but that Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Ethereum Classic (ETC) have lost large portions of market share since that time.
XRP Ledger (XRP), however, remains the seventh-largest cryptocurrency, CoinDesk added, citing market cap and 24-hour trade volume from CoinGecko. ETC is ranked 25th, Stellar (XLM) is 28th, BCH 29th,
The Coinbase note about the change said that owners will not lose their assets, as any unsupported assets will still be tied to their addresses and accessible through a “recovery phase.”
It added that in order to view or transfer these assets after January 2023, they will need to use another non-custodial wallet provider that supports the network.
“Double-check that Coinbase Wallet supports the network you are receiving assets from, otherwise you won’t be able to access these assets,” the note said.
In addition, this change that’s effective January 2023 will not impact support of the four tokens on Coinbase.com or the Coinbase Exchange app.
PYMNTS research has found that among the consumers who hold or have knowledge of the top 10 cryptocurrencies, 3% hold BCH and 2% hold XLM.
The survey of 2,300 consumers also found that 66% of consumers have used cryptocurrency-based debit cards or gift cards in-store, 26% of consumers are “very” or “extremely” interested in using crypto when making purchases from merchants that offer rewards or discounts, and 14% of high-income consumers say they “definitely” prefer merchants that accept crypto, according to “The U.S. Crypto Consumer: Cryptocurrency Use In Online And In-Store Purchases,” a PYMNTS and Bitpay collaboration.
For all PYMNTS cryptocurrency coverage, subscribe to the daily Crypto Newsletter.
We’re always on the lookout for opportunities to partner with innovators and disruptors.
Learn More