It is not uncommon for cryptocurrency exchanges to make changes to its workings as the popular ones have revealed that users demand smoother processes. These exchanges themselves have taken steps on their own to combat prevailing issues within the ecosystem.
Bitfinex was one of the latest exchanges to announce changes to its working model as well as the assets it controls. The Hong Kong-headquartered exchange announced that from March 6, it will be delisting multiple trading pairs.
According to Bitfinex, multiple trading pairs were removed because of their reduced liquidity on the platform. The company has called the removal a “common measure” and that it serves to assess and improve liquidity on the exchange. Bitfinex has urged users not to panic as the cryptocurrencies will be listed till the coming Friday.
The exchange has removed multiple trading pairs of Ethereum, Bitcoin, DAI and the Japanese Yen. The Ethereum pairs on the removal roster included Fusion, Scorum, Credits, On Live and Statis Euro. They were also joined by Atonomi, AidCoin, and Auctus. Several tokens were based on Bitcoin, with the world’s largest cryptocurrency provide a wider range.
The Bitcoin trading pairs to be delisted were CommerceBlock, Edge, ORS Group, BLOCKv, Nectar Token and Nucleus Vision. Atonomi was the only token to be delisted from both Ethereum and Bitcoin. OmiseGO and 0x were delisted from the DAI platform while Bitfinex will also cease the trading for the Verge token based on the Japanese Yen. According to the official release from Bitfinex:
“The removal of these trading pairs is a common measure that serves to consolidate and improve liquidity on Bitfinex, leading to a more streamlined and optimised trading experience for our users. The below tokens have not been delisted and are still available for trading on Bitfinex. We would like to remind our users to cancel any open orders with the above trading pairs before 06/03/20 (Friday). All remaining open orders will be canceled by the system.”
Sources have said that currently, Bitfinex supports over 350 trading pairs with a daily trading volume of $118 million. This is not the first time that an exchange has delisted cryptocurrencies to protect liquidity as Bitfinex follows in the footsteps of another crypto giant, Binance. Last year, Binance had delisted approximately 30 cryptocurrencies in a bid to bolster the liquidity and user sentiments.
Bitfinex was also in the news recently when the platform, along with OKEx was hit by service denial attacks. Bitfinex was down for an hour after the attack but services resumed shortly after. Sources stated that the attacker had tried to exploit Bitfinex’s features to increase the trading load on the platform. The attackers did not provide any explanation for the event where both the exchanges did not report any loss.