By Lucas Williams
A trading platform based in Israel, Etoro has decided to take action on its platform when it comes to the trading of digital assets like Tron and Cardano. Customers based in the United States will now have limited functionality on the Etoro trading platform where these cryptocurrencies are concerned from December onwards. Etoro elaborated in a post that these measures had to be taken because of the considerations related to the business due to the regulatory environment in the country. One of the most important trading companies in the sector, Etoro made the announcement about Tron and Cardano on November 23rd.
It published a blog post to inform its clients about the limitations for these crypto-assets and announced that starting from December 26th, US-based users of the eToro platform will not be able to open positions for these two cryptocurrencies. Likewise, the users will also not be able to stake the two assets beginning from December 21st. But, it is important to note that these rules are only applicable for new positions. The users will have to maintain the existing positions they already have in relation to the two assets. Moreover, it should also be noted that when these positions are closed, the payout of the operation, if applicable, will be given in dollars.
Furthermore, any positions that are included in smart portfolios will also be converted into personal positions so the user can maintain them. Etoro elaborated that it was taking these measures because of the regulatory environment in the US that was affecting its business. It is likely that the company is trying to protect itself from the regulatory uncertainty that exists in the US when it comes to the crypto sector. Etoro’s unexpected measures prompted the founder of the crypto Cardano, Charles Hoskinson to speak out about the matter.
Hoskinson talked about the regulatory difficulties that cryptocurrencies are facing all over the world, but most particularly in the United States. Referring to eToro, he said that it appeared to be an adjustment in risk policy and control and liquidity was reduced for those participating in the US. While eToro has announced about limiting Cardano availability on its platform, another exchange has announced adding Cardano to its list of offerings. Indeed, European crypto exchange Bitstamp revealed that Cardano will now be part of its platform. This seemed to support what Hoskinson had said about eToro’s action being restricted to just one platform and not an indicator of an overall trend of exclusion.
It was clarified by Cardano’s founder that eToro’s action would have no impact of the liquidity of the cryptocurrency in the market because the platform was a relatively small one for the token. Hoskinson also said that regulatory clarity was a must because he believed that it would be the only way through which all of these problems could be resolved. It is also worth noting that there were no statements from Justin Sun, the founder of Tron about the issue of eToro limiting transactions on its platform.