Cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex has announced the delisting of several assets and removal of their margin and lending products for US-based customers.
Changes to Services Announced
Poloniex, the Delaware-based cryptocurrency exchange, announced earlier on Wednesday its intention to delist several assets from their platform. The firm also plans to discontinue the margin and lending products for customers based in the United States.
The company, which was founded in 2014, is currently ranked 55th in terms of daily trading volume by data aggregator CoinMarketCap. In February of this year, the firm was taken over by Circle, a cryptocurrency start-up backed by the banking giant Goldman Sachs. The exchange currently manages a daily trade volume of around $30 million.
Removal of Margin Trading for US Customers
As per the announcement, margin trading is being withdrawn to ensure that the firm complies with the regulatory requirements in every jurisdiction. Poloniex has assured that they will attempt to make the transition process as smooth as possible for its customers who will be impacted by the change.
While a date has not been formally announced for the change to take effect, the blog post states it will happen towards the end of the year. Customers have been advised to take steps to unwind their margin positions at their convenience.
The announcement further clarifies that existing loans would remain open and continue to fund positions and earn interest for their previously specified duration.
Delisting of Assets
Three assets will also be delisted from the platform on October 10th at 12:00 pm ET. The impacted assets are AMP (Synereo), EXP (Expanse), and GNO (Gnosis). Customers have been given until November 9th, 12:00 pm ET to close out trades and withdraw balances in the assets being delisted. Post the withdrawal timeline, the assets will be decommissioned from the platform and withdrawals will be disabled.
Poloniex is following their policy of informing the customers at least seven days in advance and provides the holders of the impacted coins 30 days to withdraw their assets.
The blog post clarifies that in case of an interruption of wallet availability, the deadline may be extended. In the eventuality of the network not being live, the exchange will secure the customers’ delisted funds in cold storage and make them available for withdrawal if the system was to become operational again.
The move appears to be a step towards better regulatory compliance, amidst a backdrop of increased scrutiny by regulators. Earlier in May, Poloniex had frozen all unverified accounts. Legacy customers were locked out of their accounts and advised to complete the verification formalities to be able to withdraw their funds.
Why do you think Poloniex is halting its margin and lending services for U.S.-based customers? Let us know in the comments below.
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