The exchange said there are no plans to resume trading for those pairs and has suspended access to its OTC trading platform for a period of time that might last months.
After receiving legal pressure from the SEC to freeze its assets earlier this week, Binance US revealed on Wednesday the removal of over 100 advanced trading pairs and suspending its OTC trading platform.
AAVE/USDT, COMP/USDT, EOS/USDT, and BCH/BTC are a few of the targeted pairs.
Legal Challenges with Binance US
Users were reassured that their assets “remain safe” on the platform by Binance US despite the fact that it did not explain why the rapid pair removals were required. This modification will go into effect on June 8 at 12 p.m. EDT, and deposits and withdrawals will proceed as usual.
The change reduces the number of supported “convert” trading pairs on the site to 226. For the majority of the leading cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, including BTC, ETH, USDT, USDC, DOGE, and others, buy, sell, and conversion options are still available.
The exchange gave no hints that it planned to bring back such trading pairs. Although its OTC desk is presently “paused,” the company promised to let users know when it resumes operation. “In the coming weeks and months.”
A day after filing a 136-page lawsuit against the exchange and its global parent firm, the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday issued a restraining order against Binance US to freeze its assets.
Read more: SEC Files Request To Freeze Binance US Crypto Assets, Citing Customer Safety Concerns
Additionally, the exchange had been ordered to return all fiat money and digital assets held on the Binance US platform to consumers within ten days of receiving the restraining order. This included assets tied to its staking-as-a-service program, for the SEC, which targeted Coinbase’s similar offering the same day.
Combining Of The Funds?
The lawsuit placed a particular focus on placing all client assets back under the management of Binance US, which were otherwise being managed by either Binance or its CEO Changpeng Zhao. Specifically, the statement stated that this control should be returned to Binance US. Despite the fact that Binance and Binance US are meant to be separate businesses, the SEC claimed in its lawsuit on Monday that billions of dollars from both platforms had been “commingled” within a company owned by Zhao named Merit Peak Limited.
Defendants have been directed to “remove Defendant Binance, Defendant Zhao, and any of the Binance Entities as a signatory or authorized person to transfer or withdraw assets from all accounts and/or wallets containing Customer Assets…within 5 days of this Restraining Order,” according to the filing. All customer funds must be kept in wallets that are managed by new administrative and private keys within 30 days.