Binance.US Delists Token Earmarked By SEC As A Security

Binance U.S. has announced that “out of an abundance of caution”, it is delisting AMP, days after the US Securities Exchanges Commission (SEC) branded the coin a security.

“We operate in a rapidly evolving industry, and our listing and delisting processes are designed to be responsive to market and regulatory developments.” A Monday blog by the exchange read. “We have decided to delist the AMP token from Binance US, effective August 15, 2022. 

The SanFrancisco based exchange went on to further note that while trading of AMP may resume at some point in the future, it was “taking this step now until more clarity exists around the classification of AMP.”

The move comes on the heels of a report last week that the SEC had launched an investigation on Coinbase on suspicion that it had allowed US residents to trade unregistered securities. Earlier, the commission had tagged AMP along with six other cryptocurrencies that it described as unregistered securities following an unrelated insider trading complaint against a former Coinbase employee by the Department of Justice (DOJ).

In response to SEC’s “unregistered securities” claims, Paul Grewal, Chief Legal Officer at Coinbase, defended the exchange, stating that it does not list securities on its platform. According to Paul, due to the lack of a clear regulatory framework for digital asset securities,  the SEC was “relying on these types of one-off enforcement actions to try to bring all digital assets into its jurisdiction, even those assets that are not securities.”

On Thursday, SEC’s chair, Gary Gensler, reiterated that cryptocurrencies should be regulated just like mainstream securities, given their investment approach. “With so many retail customers trading on crypto platforms, we should make sure that those platforms offer similar protection,” Gary stated, adding, “there is no reason to treat the crypto market differently just because a different technology is used…we should be technology neutral when it comes to investor protection.”

He went on to state that the SEC was working with crypto platforms to get them registered and regulated. Additionally, the commission looked into segregating crypto platforms from market-making functions.

Meanwhile, AMP has dropped over 93% from its all-time highs, with the battle between the SEC and Coinbase threatening to plunge the price further. In the past 24 hours, the cryptocurrency has dropped by over 8% and was trading at $0.008238 as of writing.