Binance just said a big "no" to a long list of once-hyped altcoin narratives. On Friday, Jan. 30, the world's biggest crypto exchange will remove 10 BTC-denominated trading pairs from both cross and isolated margin, ending the leverage options for names like Decentraland (MANA), dYdX (DYDX), Kusama (KSM), Arweave (AR), Synthetix (SNX), Hive (HIVE), 1inch (1INCH), ICON (ICX), Syscoin (SYS) and Loopring (LRC).
Starting immediately, users cannot transfer assets into isolated margin accounts for these pairs, and margin borrowing will be suspended on Jan. 28. After the deadline, all open positions will be closed, and the pairs will be permanently removed from Binance Margin.
The assets that were once all the rage — DeFi, Web3, layer 2 or the metaverse — are not getting delisted from spot trading. But their exit from leveraged products shows a definite shift.
These tokens, ranging from synthetic derivatives platforms and decentralized storage to virtual world currencies and interoperability networks, have either lost trading traction or simply do not justify continued support in Binance's margin ecosystem.
What does it mean for crypto in 2026?
This is not some random cleanup; as you can see, there is no sign of meme tokens or high-beta AI plays in the delisting. Instead, the ax falls on tokens linked to narratives that dominated in 2021 and 2022 but now struggle for relevance.
Liquidity is drying up, and risk appetite with it. And Binance, which once scaled aggressively to list every experimental angle, now appears focused on trimming the fat.
Margin infrastructure is not free. Support costs go up when trading volume fades. By delisting these pairs, Binance is sending a not-so-subtle message: outdated narratives do not get leverage.
Alex Dovbnya
Tomiwabold Olajide
Gamza Khanzadaev