In a statement released to customers on November 23, Israeli crypto exchange eToro said that it would delist Cardano (ADA) and Tron (TRX) for the US clients by the end of this year. This move surprised users as ADA has not been normally on the regulators’ radars as of late.
After December 31, 2021, the United States users will no longer have the ability to open new positions in the tokens or stake TRX and ADA. Moreover, the wallets will be effectively in withdraw-only mode until the first quarter of 2022, when the selling will also become limited. While making that decision, eToro cited regulatory worries surrounding both of these assets.
This move comes as a surprise to some of the participants in the market since ADA has not been linked with regulatory issues in the past. But in the case of Ripple’s XRP, whose creators are engaged in a continuing lawsuit with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Monero which is a privacy coin is facing massive scrutiny in the crypto sector.
Privacy coins are under scrutiny because the regulators believe that they are used for illegal purposes. ADA recorded a rapid price surge in 2021 and is now ranked among the top 10 cryptos by market cap. In the previous quarter, Charles Hoskinson, Cardano’s founder, confirmed a partnership with blockchain analytics provider Confirm to comply with all regulatory networks, like the anti-money laundering directives.
That move was panned by some of the ADA supporters who wanted the project to take on an extensively decentralized nature. Companies operating in the blockchain sector normally get intensive pressure from regulators and authorities in the matters of delisting coins or pulling the plug on specific services.
In September 2021, Coinbase halted its cryptocurrency lending platform plans after the US SEC threatened to sue the firm. Today, however, the rise of the decentralized exchanges and decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols have offered popular alternatives for those seeking to legally bypass these crackdowns.
