The US arm of crypto exchange Binance removed Amp (AMP) on its platform as federal regulators claim that the Ethereum (ETH) token is an unregistered security.
In a new statement, the exchange says that out of an abundance of caution, it will stop supporting the native token of the AMP blockchain effective August 15th.
Binance says that it considers market and regulatory developments in its listing and delisting processes and assets that potentially no longer meet its listing standards go through in-depth review and assessment.
“We believe that, in some circumstances, delisting an asset best protects our community from undue risk.
While trading of AMP may resume at some point in the future on the Binance.US platform, we are taking this step now until more clarity exists around the classification of AMP.”
The decision comes after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) declared that AMP is an unregistered security.
In its complaint against former Coinbase employee accused of insider trading, the SEC says that AMP, along with eight other digital tokens, namely Rally (RLY), DerivaDEX (DDX), XYO (XYO), Rari Governance Token (RGT), LCX (LCX), Powerledger (POWR), DFX Finance (DFX), and Kromatika (KROM), all have the hallmarks of the definition of a security.
“A digital token or crypto asset is a crypto asset security if it meets the definition of a security, which the Securities Act defines to include “investment contract,” i.e., if it constitutes an investment of money, in a common enterprise, with a reasonable expectation of profit derived from the efforts of others.
As described in greater detail below, during the relevant period, Ishan provided material, nonpublic information about, and Nikhil and Ramani traded in, at least nine crypto asset securities that meet this definition.”
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