Justin Sun’s Tron to be delisted by Binance crypto exchange

3 weeks after the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Justin Sun and his companies for various violations, Binance has decided to delist the $TRX token. 

$TRX doesn’t meet the standard of excellence?

Binance US has decided to delist $TRX after its periodic review of the token. In a tweet by Binance.US Customer Support, the reason given for the delisting might be construed that the token didn’t “meet the standard of excellence”.

At #BinanceUS, we periodically review each digital asset listed to ensure that it continues to meet the standard of excellence we expect.

Based on our recent review, Spell (SPELL) & TRON (TRX) will be delisted from the platform on April 18, 2023.

(🧵1/2) pic.twitter.com/EJCzM9xZdN

— Binance.US Customer Support (@BinanceUShelp) April 12, 2023

According to Binance US, the review process included looking into various factors such as liquidity and trading volume. One other factor is the level of compliance each token has with US regulators (such as the SEC). It might be surmised that $TRX failed on this count given that the SEC issued fraud and manipulation charges against Tron and its founder Justin Sun only around 3 weeks ago.

SEC charges

The SEC charges alleged that Sun and his companies manipulated the secondary markets for the benefit of $TRX via a comprehensive program of washtrading, and also artificially inflated its trading volume.

In addition, the SEC alleges that Sun used  “bounty programs” in order to incentivise recruiters on social media to promote $TRX and $BTT and persuade others to do the same.

Regulatory challenges

Given its own regulatory challenges, Binance, and its CEO Changpeng Zhao, are likely to be under a lot of pressure to show that all current dealings are squeaky clean in order to show that full compliance is the goal, vis à vis the delisting of the $TRX token.

However, given the way that SEC chairman Gensler and his agency are attacking the crypto sector it might appear that what Binance has done in the past is what will ultimately matter. 

The SEC, with the full backing of the Biden administration, looks as though it wants to bring the largest crypto exchange down. One reason for this may well be that the administration perceives crypto to be a threat to the dollar, and the taking down of such a huge exchange will help to cut off public access to cryptocurrencies.

It seems that both Binance and Tron will be facing plenty of regulatory challenges in the months and years to come. Being able to stay operational will depend on their ability to be able to deal with the SEC, as well as withstand the negative mainstream press that is likely to be directed their way.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.