First Delisting of Tokens on Bitfinex

Just a few hours ago we learned that Hongkong-based Bitfinex, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges by volume will CoinDesk no longer allow U.S. investors to purchase certain tokens on its exchange that may be at risk of running afoul with regulators. Bitfinex expects a more restrictive regulation around all ERC-20 tokens issued via the ethereum blockchain. As of August 16, 2017 EOS and SAN tokens will no longer be available for U.S. customers to purchase.

Based on the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission's (SEC) Investigative Report on DAO tokens it may well expect that more cryptocurrency exchanges will follow Bitfinex's lead and ban tokens for U.S. investors. This could be bad news for the thoken issuers as well as for the cryptocurrency market in general. Besides other points, it may be legal issue for token issuers if investors bought the tokens in an ICO or token sale and relied on the tradeability of the tokens.

I am confinced that we as the blockchain ecosphere should put significantly more attention on the legal and regulatory side of the token issuance and trading. Otherwise, we may experience a hard landing sometime in the near future having issues as issuers and investors with regulatory authorities and law enforcement agencies. This ist not something we would like to experience, right?

What's your take on that?

Sort:  

I think it's a good move by Bitfinex. The way btc-e was shut down, it maybe safer for the exchanges to close out US customers

Congratulations @bluechipper! You have completed some achievement on Steemit and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :

You published your First Post

Click on any badge to view your own Board of Honor on SteemitBoard.
For more information about SteemitBoard, click here

If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP

By upvoting this notification, you can help all Steemit users. Learn how here!

Congratulations @bluechipper! You have received a personal award!

1 Year on Steemit
Click on the badge to view your Board of Honor.

Do you like SteemitBoard's project? Then Vote for its witness and get one more award!

Congratulations @bluechipper! You received a personal award!

Happy Birthday! - You are on the Steem blockchain for 2 years!

You can view your badges on your Steem Board and compare to others on the Steem Ranking

Vote for @Steemitboard as a witness to get one more award and increased upvotes!

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.16
TRX 0.15
JST 0.027
BTC 60244.17
ETH 2333.72
USDT 1.00
SBD 2.47