The firm said it remains a “supporter” of the crypto sector and suggested that the move was purely to avoid any potential regulatory non-compliance.
Retail trading platform eToro has halted purchases of Algorand (ALGO), Decentraland (MANA), Polygon (MATIC), and Dash (DASH) for customers in the United States in response to the tokens being labeled as securities in recent SEC lawsuits.
The move comes just a few days after competitor Robinhood also halted support for MATIC along with Cardano (ADA) and Solana (SOL), two other cryptocurrencies deemed as securities by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission..
In a June 12 Twitter thread, eToro US noted that it had reviewed its crypto listings ”in light of the rapidly evolving regulatory landscape” and “recent developments” with the SEC.
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
The assets were officially delisted as of 6:00 am Eastern Time on July 12; however, eToro US users will still be able to hold and sell these assets.
“We remain a supporter of crypto assets and believe in the importance of offering our users access to a diversified range of asset classes, which includes stocks, ETFs, and options. We are committed to working closely with regulators around the world to shape the future of the crypto industry and champion access for the ordinary investor,“ the firm stated.
The firm has essentially opted to err on the side of caution, given that the SEC has now asserted in lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase that major assets such as ADA, SOL, MATIC, MANA, ALGO, and several others are securities.
Related: Breaking: US lawmakers file ‘SEC Stabilization Act’ to fire Gary Gensler
Members of the community have questioned why eToro US hasn’t mentioned anything about SOL, which was also deemed as a security in the recent lawsuits. However, an eToro spokesperson has clarified that SOL is not part of eToro US’s offerings.
The company spokesperson did not address why ADA purchases were not banned.
interesting
eToro is removing Polygon and Algorand but not Solana pic.twitter.com/ZjigTmLmO0
— lightspeed mert | helius.dev (@0xMert_) June 12, 2023
This isn’t the first time eToro US has moved to halt access to certain assets in response to the litigation-friendly SEC. In December 2020, the firm also delisted Ripple (XRP) following the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple Labs.
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