eToro stops trading Cardano and TRON for US customers
eToro, a stock and crypto exchange, wants to take the cryptocurrencies ADA from Cardano and TRX from TRON out of trading for US customers. The company announced that US customers will no longer be able to open new positions or use the two tokens within a month. It does this at the same time that Bitstamp, a much larger exchange than eToro, is listing ADA. As expected, Charles Hoskinson had something to say about the ban, which he says he was taken by surprise.
“As of December 26, 2021, customers will no longer be able to open new ADA or TRX positions. Also, staking for these assets will end on December 31, 2021, ”eToro announced. The move is due to business strategy considerations in an evolving regulatory environment, according to the stock exchange .
US clients can keep their existing TRX and ADA positions or close them at any time and exchange them for dollars. Remuneration for missions will also expire, with the last being paid out on January 15th next year.
The exchange is also working on its eToro Money cryptocurrency wallet, which is compatible with these two tokens and is expected to hit the market in early 2022. It is designed to enable US customers to hold their ADA and TRX even if they can no longer sell them for dollars.
eToro has failed to disclose the specific regulatory concerns that have forced the company to end support for the two tokens. There have been no regulatory actions against Cardano or TRON in the US, which makes the move even more mysterious.
Hoskinson: eToro took us by surprise, but liquidity is not affected
Charles Hoskinson, Cardano founder and head of Input Output Global (IOG), was quick to respond to the latest move. About 20 minutes after the announcement of eToro, he recorded a video in which he discussed eToro’s withdrawal and explained why it was insignificant in the overall picture.
Hoskinson first made it clear that the IOG is not responsible for the listing and liquidity of ADA. This is the responsibility of the Cardano Foundation, which is an independent entity.
For him, eToro’s move is just a manifestation of a much larger problem – the systemic lack of regulatory clarity for cryptocurrencies. In the US, considered a world leader, this lack of clarity is detrimental to cryptocurrency projects and crypto businesses.
But despite the withdrawal, ADA is doing fine, Hoskinson assured the community. He noted that Bitstamp, a European crypto exchange that is among the oldest in the world, has just added ADA.
“Everything is OK. Cardano is fine. Liquidity is improving – don’t allow people to spread fear, uncertainty, and disinformation. It’s just one example of thousands of independent companies making decisions about their business, and some of those decisions are good for Cardano and some of those decisions are not. “
Although he respects eToro’s right to make business decisions at its own discretion, he feels taken by surprise by the company. He said most exchanges were in constant communication with the IOG and the Foundation and would usually inform of any changes and any issues. IOG even gives some exchanges access to internal slack so they can communicate with developers and solve problems quickly.
