Phemex places 82 USDT trading pairs under review due to liquidity and compliance issues

Phemex restricts trading for 82 tokens over liquidity and compliance risks

Crypto exchange Phemex placed 82 USDT trading pairs under its Special Treatment program on August 31, requiring users to pass a mandatory risk test before trading them. The restriction took effect at 10:00 UTC and applies to tokens such as Ethereum Classic (ETC), Tezos (XTZ), Synthetix (SNX), yearn.finance (YFI), Nexo (NEXO), Axie Infinity (AXS), Ethena USDe (USDe), and TrueUSD (TUSD).

Why these tokens were flagged

Phemex stated that each affected pair met at least one of three risk criteria: persistently low trading volume and insufficient liquidity, failure by the project team to respond to requests for operational updates, or missed whitepaper milestones without a public explanation. The exchange did not specify which issue applied to each token.

The exchange’s Special Treatment rules classify a project as low-liquidity if it meets three of four conditions, such as a bid-ask spread above 0.5% or average daily trading volume below 30,000 USDT for three consecutive months. A separate risk classification can apply for reasons like security breaches, regulatory concerns, or internal risk assessments.

What happens next

Traders must now pass a Risk Cognizance Test to access these pairs. Phemex will continue reviewing the projects and may remove the Special Treatment tag if conditions improve or delist the tokens if they worsen. No deadline for withdrawals has been set, and holders are advised to monitor updates from the exchange.

Tokens under review

The 82 unique pairs include established tokens like ETC, XTZ, SNX, and YFI, as well as others such as SPELL, CVC, DOGE-related tokens, and stablecoins like USDe and TUSD. A full list of affected pairs is available in Phemex’s first notice and second notice.

Sources

• CryptoSlate