Crypto exchange Binance is set to delist five crypto tokens by December, citing a lack of compliance with industry standards.
According to a Nov. 26 announcement, Binance will delist by Dec. 10 trading pairs for Gifto (GFT), IRISnet (IRIS), SelfKey (KEY), OAX (OAX) and Ren (REN). Arbitrage strategies, loans, and futures positions on these tokens will be closed on Dec. 3, while isolated and cross-margin borrowings will be suspended on Nov. 27.
The announcement triggered a significant sell-off, leading the tokens to plummet by nearly 40%, with prices dropping to mere cents at the time of writing.
Binance is the largest crypto exchange by trading activity, according to CoinGecko. It currently has 386 tokens and 1,275 trading pairs listed on its platform, with trading volume at the exchange standing at $44 billion on Nov. 26 — up nearly 20% over the previous 24 hours.
The exchange did not disclose which requirements the tokens fail to meet but listed key factors that it regularly evaluates, including the team’s commitment to projects, quality of development, trading volume and liquidity, along with stability and safety from attacks and responsiveness to periodic due diligence requests, among others.
Related: Binance beefs up compliance team by 34% to 645 full-timers
GFT 7 days performance. Source: CoinMarketCap
The delisted tokens represent projects that target several blockchain solutions, from blockchain gift-giving to decentralized exchanges and interoperability services for decentralized finance (DeFi).
Most of these tokens had registered lower trading volumes over the past few months. Data from CoinMarketCap shows that REN’s trading actively dropped from $34 million in March to nearly $6 million in early November, while OAX volume fell from a peak of $101 million in March to $468,000 in October.
A low trading volume is often a red flag for both projects and holders, as it indicates poor liquidity and lack of adoption.
In a Telegram channel, some members of the Gifto community criticized developers for not sharing updates about the project on social media. “I lost more dollars in this project and gave up because the devs don’t even post anything regards to this issue on their social media,” said one member.
Binance warned users that deposits of these tokens will not be credited after Dec. 11, and withdrawals will not be supported after Dec. 12. According to the exchange, the tokens may be converted into stablecoins on behalf of users after Dec. 13. However, there is no guarantee.
Related: Binance settles with US government: Timeline of enforcement actions
