Leading crypto exchange Bitstamp has announced that it will stop trading services for Polygon and other selected altcoins for its US users. Bitstamp listed seven cryptocurrencies that will be affected by the outcome.
Interestingly, the seven cryptocurrencies including Axie Infinity (AXS), Chiliz (CHZ), Decentraland (MANA), Polygon (MATIC), Near Protocol (NEAR), The Sandbox (SAND), and Solana (SOL) are all listed as securities in the SEC’s lawsuit against Binance and Coinbase.
In its announcement, Bitstamp cited “recent market developments” as the reason behind the development without adding any further details. Per the announcement, trading of the aforementioned altcoins will take effect starting August 26.
Update for our US users 📢
Starting August 29: AXS, CHZ, MANA, MATIC, NEAR, SAND, and SOL trading will be halted after evaluating recent market developments.
Execute any open trades. Holding and withdrawing tokens afterwards will be unaffected.
More info:…
— Bitstamp (@Bitstamp) August 8, 2023
As a result, trading all existing orders involving the listed assets will be disabled. Also, orders across all trading pairs be canceled. Meanwhile, users will still be able to hold these assets within their accounts and withdraw them at any time.
Related Reading: Binance Adds Shiba Inu as a Collateralized Asset, SHIB price reacts
Furthermore, Bitstamp urged its United States users to swiftly complete any pending or intending buy and sell transactions involving the listed tokens on or before August 29.
“After this deadline, trading activities related to AXS, CHZ, MANA, MATIC, NEAR, SAND, and SOL will be permanently disabled on the Bitstamp platform,” Bitstamp said.
The ripple effect
Even though the Securities and Exchange Commission’s classification of these cryptocurrencies as securities has not yet been proven in court, exchanges are willingly delisting them from their platforms to avoid being caught in a web of litigation.
Notably, cryptocurrency platforms like Bakkt, Robinhood, and Revolut have recently delisted certain crypto assets mentioned above such as Cardano (ADA), Polygon (MATIC), and Solana (SOL).
The emphasis appears to be on those three cryptocurrencies because they are among the largest assets targeted by the SEC and hence widely supported. In spite of these allegations, each of these crypto projects has completely denied the SEC’s claim one way or the other.
Ultimately, cryptocurrency exchanges are taking precautions by halting trading activities involving the listed tokens to avoid being a target by the security watchdog. It remains to be proven whether these altcoins are actually securities or not.
