eToro US has announced it will delist Algorand (ALGO), Decentraland (MANA), Dash (DASH), and Polygon (MATIC) from its trading platform.
In a statement, the firm said: ‘eToro has a framework in place which reviews the cryptoassets we offer in light of the rapidly evolving regulatory landscape. Due to recent developments, we will be making some changes to our crypto offering for US customers.
‘From 6:00AM ET on Wednesday July 12th, 2023, US customers will no longer be able to open new positions in Algorand (ALGO), Decentraland (MANA), Dash (DASH) and Polygon (MATIC). Customers can continue to hold and sell existing positions in these coins.’
The decision was made in light of the SEC’s pronouncement of 13 cryptos including Solana (SOL), Polygon (MATIC), Cardano (ADA), Filecoin (FIL), Sandbox (SAND), Axie Infinity (AXS), Chiliz (CHZ), Flow (FLOW), Internet Computer Price (ICP), Near (NEAR), Voyager (VGX), Dash (DASH) and Nexo (NEXO) as securities in its lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase. It had similarly labelled Algorand (ALGO) a security in a lawsuit against Bittrex US.
Exchanges in the US walk a tightrope
Blockchain-based companies, particularly exchanges operating in the US are between a rock and a hard place as the SEC continues to crackdown. Enabling trading of the cryptos tagged as securities by the SEC places them at risk of lawsuits while delisting them presents its own sets of challenges.
Robinhood was one of the first exchanges to make the difficult decision to delist Cardano (ADA), Polygon (MATIC) and Solana (SOL). The announcement was made via a press release on its website.
‘We regularly review the crypto we offer on Robinhood. Based on our latest review, we’ve decided to end support for Cardano (ADA), Polygon (MATIC), and Solana (SOL) on June 27th, 2023 at 6:59 PM ET. No other coins are affected and your crypto is still safe on Robinhood.’
Prior to the decision, Robinhood claimed to have attempted to register a special-purpose broker dealer with the SEC’s assistance but were told that the process was over and they would not see any fruits of that effort. This further amplifies accusations of the SEC’s lack of cooperation and refusal to create a regulatory framework for the industry.
There is however a ray of hope in the push for regulatory clarity if events scheduled for this week such as the SEC’s rulemaking petition, Hinman’s document release and the upcoming US Financial Services Committee meeting tagged ‘The Future of Digital Assets: Providing Clarity for the Digital Asset Ecosystem’ yield favourable outcomes.
