Binance Delists Mithril and Others, Raises Questions Over Token Deposit
On Dec. 15, cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced that four tokens — Mithril (MITH), Tribe (TRIBE), Augur (REP) and Bitcoin Standard Hashrate Token (BTCST) — would be delisted from the exchange effective Dec. 22 due to not meeting the “high level of standard we expect.”
Immediately following the announcement, decentralized social media protocol Mithril, whose token had a market capitalization of less than $10 million at the time of publication, expressed its concerns on Twitter: “Today, Binance has announced that it will delist MITH. As part of the MITH listing, Binance required a 200,000 BNB deposit, which was never returned. On behalf of the Mithril community, we ask @cz_binance to return this deposit so that Mithril may continue to operate.”
At the time of the initial listing, 200,000 BNB (BNB) was valued at $1.9 million. In contrast, its current worth has soared to $52.7 million, raising significant questions about the circumstances surrounding the delisting.
Initially, users criticized the Mithril Twitter account, which had remained dormant for nearly two years, with its last post being on Jan. 7, 2021. As of now, the project’s official website appears to be offline.
“Lmao project that was dead for 2 years and didn’t have a single Tweet since Jan 2021 rushes to Twitter to ask for their money back after delisting.”
— Tree of Alpha (@Tree_of_Alpha) December 15, 2022
However, the situation regarding the deposit is more intricate than initially perceived. According to an official listing document from Binance dated Nov. 15, 2018, the exchange indicated: “Binance will open trading for MITH/BTC and MITH/BNB trading pairs at 2018/11/15 2:00 PM (UTC). Users can now start depositing MITH in preparation for trading. The Mithril team will donate a 20,000 BNB equivalent amount to the Blockchain Charity Foundation in appreciation for this listing.”
However, Cointelegraph had previously reported in 2019 that Binance had solicited considerations from newly listed crypto projects, which were denied as being called “listing fees.” Over the years, their policies have transformed significantly.
Cointelegraph reached out to Binance for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication. This situation remains developing and will be updated accordingly.
