What Binance Trading Pair Removals Mean For These Major Altcoins

Binance is removing three “Build and Build” (BNB) altcoin trading pairs while pressures mount over its peer-to-peer (P2P) business in Nigeria. Spot traders will no longer be able to trade using the ALGO/BNB and the XLM/BNB pairs starting March 8, 2024.

Following a review of all listed trading pairs, Binance will also reduce support for BNB spot pairs affecting AERGO, ALGO, BNB, CTSI, FARM, FUN, and XLM.

Why Binance Will Delist Altcoin Pairs

Binance said it would remove three BNB pairs, two Bitcoin (BTC) pairs, and one ETH pair following a periodic review of all listed pairs. While it did not offer reasons for the removal, it said poor liquidity and trading volume play a role in these decisions.

Poor liquidity for one of the affected pairs, for example, ALGO/BNB, means that fewer traders are willing to offer BNB in exchange for ALGO tokens or vice-versa. Therefore, it becomes difficult for traders to move in and out of positions, affecting the trading volumes. Supporting the pair then becomes an unprofitable overhead for the exchange since it will lose out on trading fees.

At other times, exchanges remove trading pairs to minimize legal risks. Coinbase Wallet removed XRP pairs after the US Securities and Exchange Commission sued Ripple Labs and some of its executives. Robinhood Markets did the same for SOL, MATIC, and ADA after lawsuits against Coinbase and Binance last year.

“Based on our latest review, we’ve decided to end support for Cardano (ADA), Polygon (MATIC), and Solana (SOL) on June 27th, 2023 at 6:59 PM ET. Transfer support for ADA, MATIC, and SOL ended on June 26th, 2023 at 6:59pm ET. No other coins are affected and your crypto is still safe on Robinhood,” the company said.

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However, the reason for Binance’s removals may be more subtle. Stellar’s launch of smart contracts for financial services and Algorand’s tokenization push may have rendered traders uncertain about the XLM and ALGO price prediction from a trading perspective. The XLM token may accrue further use cases as Stellar’s DeFi efforts progress, while ALGO may have use cases in minting real-world asset tokens.

BNB Gets Boost From Naira Removals

In the meantime, Binance is facing an existential crisis in Nigeria. Several executives, including CEO Richard Teng, have been accused of currency manipulation by the Nigerian government. On Monday, the country detained two executives and summoned Teng to appear before the House of Representatives Committee on Finance Crimes. 

As the legal spat intensified, Binance was forced to remove support for the naira on the exchange. Users can no longer deposit naira and will not be able to withdraw from Friday. Binance will also convert Naira deposits to BNB if left on the platform. This may boost BNB volumes after removing the XLM and ALGO BNB pairs.

BNB holders can benefit from lower trading fees on Binance or use BNB to trade on decentralized and P2P exchanges. The asset’s price recently broke the $400 barrier and is currently $420.32. Its trading volume in the past 24 hours is $149.54 million.

Read more: How To Buy BNB and Everything You Need To Know

BNB was floated in an initial coin offering following the launch of Binance in 2017. It reached an all-time high of $686.31 in May 2021. The exchange has not responded to queries about its latest trading pair removals by press time.