Coinbase suspends trading of Floki, Turbo, and Giga memecoins in New York

Coinbase announced that it has suspended trading for memecoins Floki (FLOKI), Turbo (TURBO), and Gigachad (GIGA) in New York only starting April 14, 2025, at around 2 PM ET. The crypto exchange said its recent asset review indicated the need to ensure compliance with its listing standards.

The firm also said that trading these assets in New York will be suspended on Coinbase.com (Simple and Advanced Trade), Coinbase Exchange, and Coinbase Prime.

Coinbase halts trading of three popular memecoins in New York

We regularly monitor the assets on our exchange to ensure they meet our listing standards. Based on recent reviews, we will suspend trading for FLOKI (FLOKI), Turbo (TURBO), and Gigachad (GIGA) in New York only on April 14, 2025, on or around 2 PM ET.

— Coinbase Assets 🛡️ (@CoinbaseAssets) March 12, 2025

Coinbase has announced it has suspended the trading of FLOKI, TURBO, and GIGA in New York beginning April 14. The exchange said that the tokens will remain listed despite being suspended for users in the state as part of its regular monitoring of its platform.

“We regularly monitor the assets on our exchange to ensure they meet our listing standards. Based on recent reviews, we will suspend trading for FLOKI (FLOKI), Turbo (TURBO), and Gigachad (GIGA) in New York only on April 14, 2025, on or around 2 PM ET.”

~ Coinbase.

On-chain data showed that despite the news, these tokens’ prices didn’t move much. Floki surged by 3.6%, Giga saw an increase of 1.1%, and Turbo rose by 5.4% in the last 24 hours.

The tech company had recently listed the tokens late last year, FLOKI in November and TURBO and GIGA in December. Floki reached a five-month high after Coinbase announced that it would be added to its roadmap. Turbo and Giga also surged in price after their listing roadmaps were revealed, rising by 15% and 37%, respectively.

The increase in price was also referred to as the “Coinbase effect,” in which tokens often surge when listed on the exchange’s roadmap, only to stabilize afterward.

Dune analytics showed that Pump.fun is one of the most influential platforms driving the Solana-based memecoin trend, supporting over 8.5 million memecoins since its launch in January 2024.

The Securities and Exchange Commission under President Donald Trump’s administration recently classified that memecoins did not qualify as securities under U.S. law. The SEC stated that memecoins “do not generate yield or convey rights to future income, profits, or assets of a business,” thus putting them beyond its regulatory reach.

COO of crypto exchange MEXC Tracy Jin described the recent rise in meme tokens as “modern value creation.” She believes that Bitcoin no longer holds the flagship of decentralized freedom but an entire category of digital assets, especially “memecoins, which started as simple jokes.”

The exchange’s official also warned that “optimism should be met with a dose of caution” since markets are constantly faced with new risks and uncertainties. She argued that the “green light” for memecoin launches came with high trading risks, which requires investors to increase their research and analytic efforts.

Coinbase faces backlash for suspending trading for three cryptocurrencies

The firm’s decision has faced some backlash from legal experts, with the founder of GivenerLaw, Ariel Givener, saying, “I’d put a lot of money on this being tied to a pending legal case in NY.”

The creator of Apollo Algo argued that Floki should not be in the same category as the other tokens because it has gained credibility for being around since 2021. Crypto advisor Nekoz Tek also criticized Coinbase’s move to quickly list the three memecoins to capture volume, which leaves non-crypto natives to bag hold. Tek said that thousands of users just got stuck holding the tokens on the exchange, not knowing how to swap their money out.

Tek also argued that average retailers probably bought digital assets amid the recent market downturn. He highlighted that the traders now had to figure a way to transfer out, swap and transfer in the digital assets. He believes that the task seemed “like a lot of folks are about to be stuck for a while.”

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