The price of WAVES experienced a sharp decline, falling from $2.35 to $1.80, following an announcement by cryptocurrency exchange Binance that it would no longer support the token.
Waves, a blockchain network created by Ukrainian-born entrepreneur Sasha Ivanov, is facing significant pressure after Binance cited the token’s failure to meet its “high levels of standard and industry requirements” as the reason for its delisting.
In the same blog post, Binance announced it would also cease trading on all spot and margin pairs for OmiseGO (OMG), Wrapped NXM (WNXM), and NEM (XEM) on June 17 at 03:00 UTC. This announcement led to a 24% plunge in the price of WAVES, which is now trading at $1.80, according to CoinMarketCap.
This delisting follows Binance.US’s earlier decision in February to remove WAVES for similar reasons. Additionally, Korean exchanges Upbit and Bithumb have delisted the token due to concerns over its associated stablecoin, Neutrino USD (USDN), losing its peg to the U.S. dollar.
In mid-2023, Ivanov revealed that Waves Labs, the company behind the Waves blockchain, had been hacked for six months, causing significant financial losses and compromising internal data. Ivanov claimed that hackers, allegedly linked to the Russian mafia, had infiltrated the firm’s management software and attempted extortion.
The hack exacerbated Waves’ troubles, which also include a $530 million loss from their lending protocol, Vires Finance. Ivanov has denied accusations of his involvement in the scheme.