Cryptocurrency exchanges have to continuously monitor their listings and make changes accordingly. More often than not, companies will open new trading markets, even when there is little demand. This also means said exchange will have to delist cryptocurrencies and tokens now and then. It appears the Kraken exchanges will get rid of some illiquid markets in the near future. Mainly fiat currency markets are affected by this decision.
Adding fiat currency markets for currencies and tokens is always a tough call for exchanges. When a particular currency can bring in a lot of trading volume, exchanges can make a lot of money. Adding as many markets for said currency seems like a good idea at that time. However, not everyone is willing to spend fiat currency on every cryptocurrency. Over time, some markets will genuinely become illiquid. At that time, the company has to make a tough decision. Either they remove the market or keep dedicating resources to it.
Removing Illiquid Markets Frees up Server Resources
Kraken has decided to delist a fair few illiquid markets and free up server resources. Affected markets include Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, EOS, Stellar Lumen, Gnosis, and Augur. Do keep in mind the markets being removed do not generate enough volume to continue supporting them. It may seem odd Kraken removes the XBT/GBP pair, but it is their least popular market. The exchange is mainly used for USD and EUR trading, by the look of things.
Additionally, the fiat currency markets for EOS, XLM, and GNO will be removed completely. In the case of EOS, that isn’t entirely surprising. The initial hype surrounding this ICO token died down a long time ago. The XRP markets for both CAD and JPY will be removed as well. Once again, no surprises there, as XRP trading against fiat currencies has always a difficult concept. None of the illiquid trading pairs will be relisted in the near future, if ever. The company has dealt with strained resources for some time now. This appears to be a step in the right direction to solve those issues.
Kraken also mentions how some of their advanced orders will be suspended temporarily. This affects stop loss, take profit, and trading stop orders, as well as their permutations. This temporary suspension will apply to all markets moving forward. It is unclear when this suspension will be resolved, though. Big changes are happening as far as this exchange is concerned. We can only hope this affects the overall usability of the site in a positive manner. Dealing with random outages and unresponsive APIs is not fun for anyone.
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