Crypto Exchange Poloniex Removes Margin and Lending Products for US Users

U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange platform Poloniex will remove margin and lending products for its customers in the U.S and delist three digital assets, according to an announcement published October 3.

Poloniex is a cryptocurrency trading platform founded in 2014 and designed as a digital-currency-to-digital-currency exchange. In 2018, Poloniex was acquired by Dublin-based payments technology firm Circle for $400 million. Currently, Poloniex is ranked 38th by the adjusted trading value, according to CoinMarketCap.

According to the statement, the exchange will remove its margin and lending products for U.S.-based customers by the end of this year. Poloniex explains that the move has been taken to ensure the exchange complies with regulatory requirements in every jurisdiction. The announcement did not refer directly to any specific regulations.

Additionally, Poloniex will reportedly delist three cryptocurrencies; Synereo (AMP), Expanse (EXP), and Gnosis (GNO) on October 10, so customers will have to desist any trades and withdraw any balances in these assets.

In July, the Delaware Department of Justice (DoJ) investigated Poloniex after the exchange’s social media and support center accounts were besieged by users who had been locked out of their accounts. In May, a number of customers reportedly started receiving emails in which Poloniex required them to verify their account within 14 days. After that, the unverified accounts were frozen.

Poloniex users further took to the exchange’s unofficial subreddit, complaining about missing or “stuck deposits.” One poster said the amount of complaints led him to shut down his account, despite not being directly affected.

In January, Poloniex users claimed on the exchange’s unofficial subreddit that it had not been crediting user account balances when orders were cancelled. One user said:

“When I cancel any open orders, the original USDT value isn't returned. Usually, the intended buy value is returned to my total and everything is fine but just noticed today that every time I cancel an order, the "Estimated value of holdings" (DEPOSITS & WITHDRAWALS tab) gets smaller and smaller and never returns to the original total.”