On December 7, Binance will delist BitShares (BTS), Perl.eco (PERL), Waltonchain (WTC), and Tornado Cash (TORN), the company announced on social media platform X, (formerly Twitter).
Since the news, the four altcoins have all dropped by more than 40%. Tornado Cash dropped 57% from its pre-announcement price, reaching as low as $1.66.
After March 7, 2024, Binance said that it would no longer handle withdrawals for the altcoin.
Tornado Cash Token Decline Raises Questions Amid Regulatory Scrutiny
The Tornado Cash token fell as low as $1.64 while users were buying and selling it on well-known cryptocurrency platforms, according to recent statistics from CoinGecko.
This substantial drop in value is noteworthy and has drawn the interest of observers and traders alike, prompting inquiries into the factors that contributed to the price decline.
#Binance will delist the following tokens on December 07, 2023.
Full details here ⬇️https://t.co/0a1a1Zu8oS
— Binance (@binance) November 27, 2023
The US Office of Foreign Asset Control placed sanctions on the protocol on August 8, alleging that Tornado Cash had assisted in money laundering. This put the company under regulatory scrutiny.
Roman Storm and Roman Semenov, the platform’s co-founders, were accused at the time of conspiring to violate sanctions, launder money, and commit other financial offenses by the US Department of Justice.
TORNUSD currently trading at $1.931 on the daily chart: TradingView.com
Legal Ramifications Following Unauthorized Services To US Customers
This resulted in the express ban on US citizens using the Tornado Cash protocol, in addition to grave legal repercussions. When Binance first claimed that it does not permit US residents to trade on its platform, the issue took an unexpected turn.
On November 21, the US Department of Justice revealed a plea agreement with Binance. The exchange admitted as part of this deal that it had in fact given services to certain US customers without the necessary authorization to conduct business in the nation, further mucking up the regulatory environment around the exchange.
Without giving a rationale, Binance said that the decision to remove Tornado Cash from its platform was a standard part of their assessment procedure for listed digital assets.
TORN price action in the last day. Source: Coingecko
Based on the company’s statement, Binance conducts periodic evaluations of every coin or token to make sure it upholds the anticipated elevated standards.
Binance does a rigorous evaluation, which may result in delisting, if a digital asset no longer satisfies these requirements or if there are changes in the industry, the exchange said.
According to the company, the purpose of these reviews is to protect the interests of every user on the network.
The announcement of delisting follows Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance, entering a guilty plea and resigning as the exchange’s CEO after admitting to breaking US anti-money laundering regulations.
Featured image from iStock