- eToro has ditched four cryptocurrencies that the SEC says are securities
- ALGO, MANA, DASH, and MATIC will be axed next month
- The move comes three days after Robinhood did something similar
The US wing of the trading platform eToro yesterday announced that it will delist four cryptocurrencies following the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) recent clampdown. From next month eToro US users will no longer be able to buy Algorand (ALGO), Decentraland (MANA), Dash (DASH), and Polygon (MATIC), all of which were labeled by the SEC as securities. Seeing as SEC Chair Gary Gensler has claimed on more than one occasion that all coins except Bitcoin are securities, this could see eToro’s offering shrinking even smaller in the coming months and years.
Four Gone, How Many to Follow?
eToro US announced its cutback through its social media channels yesterday, saying that it made the move “in light of the rapidly evolving regulatory landscape”. From July 12 users will not be able to take out new positions in the four coins, although existing holders won’t be forced out:
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. (1/5)
— eToro US (@eToroUS) June 12, 2023
eToro added that it remains “a supporter of cryptoassets” but that it is “committed to working closely with regulators around the world” in order to protect itself. Of course, with eToro US, this means only the US regulator.
However, just because eToro has said it will pull the four coins now, it doesn’t stop the SEC going after it for selling them in the first place, despite it, like all other crypto platforms, not having a clue which coins formally are securities and which aren’t. Both Coinbase and Binance were recently sued for the sale of unregistered securities, with 13 names in the Coinbase suit.
eToro Follows Robinhood
Just three days ago Robinhood cut support for Cardano (ADA), Polygon and Solana (SOL) over the same fears, and it seems that the altcoin trading industry is only going to get smaller and smaller as recognized players pull up the drawbridge on the coins that the SEC classes as securities in its lawsuits.
Despite Gensler saying personally that all coins other than Bitcoin are securities, he was also quick to point out last month that his views do not count as SEC rulemaking, and therefore exchanges will have to wait until the SEC calls out certain coins before they know whether they have to delist them or not.
