4 Notes on Bittrex Delisting Dozens of Tokens for US Clients

[Magician]

A lot of things are changing in the world of cryptocurrency. Not a day goes by without some development, either controversial or otherwise. Bittrex, one of the more popular altcoin exchanges today, is planning to remove several dozen markets come June 21. More specifically, these markets will no longer be available to US customers. That list includes some rather interesting altcoins and tokens.

Bittrex Removes Several Tokens

It is not entirely uncommon for some cryptocurrency exchanges to delist specific currencies after a while. In most cases, this is done due to the particular trading pair no longer generating any volume, controversy surrounding the project, or the lack of active development. This has been a rather common occurrence in the past few years. It is also a trend which will continue for quite some time to come, as the vast majority of altcoins, tokens, and assets will become obsolete.

As far as Bittrex is concerned, the company has made some remarkable decisions as of late. Its latest news comes in the form of preventing US clients from accessing several dozen trading pairs in two weeks from today. While those coins, assets, and tokens will remain accessible for the rest of the world, it seems US-based users are being targeted by this decision. Whether this is due to regulatory pressure or other coins, is very difficult to determine at this time.

Notable Coins Being Affected

While not too many people will care too much about most of the coins no longer being accessible to US users, there are some interesting names on this list. Most notably, Factom, QTUM, and STORJ will no longer be accessible moving forward. A bit of a strange decision, considering these are three of the more successful currencies on the exchange today. However, their link to token sales and ICO projects should never be overlooked.

Of the other coins to be made inaccessible, nothing really stands out. It seems a fair few of them were part of an ICO sale in recent years. Given the SEC’s stance on initial coin offerings and token sales, it is not hard to see why exchanges want to distance themselves from such coins. Poloniex took a similar measure not that long ago, thus it is likely more listings will be reviewed and potentially removed in the future.

Sell or Withdraw the Coins ASAP

The best option for users would be to either sell these coins as easily as possible or simply withdraw them. The latter option might not be too appealing, depending on how many other trading platforms accessible to US customers will remove support for these altcoins. However, selling the coins could easily destroy a market’s value. As recently seen on Poloniex, a major sell-off in an illiquid market can have some major consequences down the line.

The Future of Crypto Trading in the US

It is rather evident this new decision by Bittrex will spark a lot of debates among enthusiasts. More specifically, this is another blow to the trading of cryptocurrencies in the United States. As more and more companies are taking strange measures to remain within the boundaries of regulatory requirements, it seems unlikely the industry will see healthy growth moving forward. At least, this is where the altcoin markets are concerned.

For Bitcoin itself, this should not cause any real problems moving forward. Unlike most altcoins, tokens, or assets, Bitcoin was not sold through an initial coin offering or a token sale. As such, it seems unlikely the world’s leading cryptocurrency will be targeted by regulators in a similar manner. For altcoin trading, however, things are not looking all that great as of right now. A bit of an uneasy situation that may cause some further controversy in the future.

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