Bitstamp Halts US Trading for SOL, MATIC, CHZ: Details

Major crypto exchange Bitstamp has issued an important update for its U.S. users. In a new tweet, Bitstamp announced that it had halted trading for seven cryptos: AXS, CHZ, MANA, MATIC, NEAR, SAND and SOL, citing recent regulatory developments.

📢🇺🇸 For our US users, we have halted trading of AXS, CHZ, MANA, MATIC, NEAR, SAND, and SOL.

You can still hold and withdraw these assets at any time. Thank you for your support! 💚

More info: https://t.co/i9bPDnF05K

— Bitstamp (@Bitstamp) August 29, 2023

In a blog post, Bitstamp announced changes to its crypto offerings specifically for customers residing in the United States, taking into account the dynamic regulatory environment as well as recent developments.

Trading activities related to AXS, CHZ, MANA, MATIC, NEAR, SAND and SOL have been paused until further notice on the Bitstamp platform. All new orders involving these assets have been disabled, and all existing orders across all trading pairs have been canceled following the change.

However, users will still be able to hold these assets within their Bitstamp account and withdraw them at any time.

SEC expands regulatory crackdown

The SEC extended its crackdown on the crypto industry at the start of the week, accusing Los Angeles-based media and entertainment company Impact Theory of selling unregistered securities in the form of non-fungible tokens. This is the agency’s first enforcement action against NFTs.

In June, the SEC filed a lawsuit against cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, alleging that it traded at least 13 crypto assets that are securities and should have been registered, as well as accusing Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, of offering 12 cryptocurrency coins without registering them as securities. These included popular cryptocurrencies such as Solana, Cardano and Polygon.

According to data from consultancy Cornerstone Research, the agency has brought more than 130 crypto cases and settlements to date, and in several of those cases, it has designated certain tokens as securities.