Phemex flags 82 USDT pairs for Special Treatment review

On Aug. 31 at 10:00 UTC, Phemex placed 82 unique USDT spot trading pairs under “Special Treatment” and requires users to complete a mandatory Risk Cognizance Test before trading those pairs. The exchange published two notices that together listed 83 entries; MAGIC/USDT was duplicated, leaving 82 distinct markets under review.

The affected list includes legacy and newer tokens, such as Ethereum Classic (ETC), Tezos (XTZ), Synthetix (SNX), Yearn.Finance (YFI), Nexo (NEXO), Axie Infinity (AXS), and the stablecoins USDe and TUSD, along with many smaller tokens.

Phemex applied the designation when a pair met one or more of three reason categories: persistently low volume and insufficient liquidity, a project team’s failure to provide valid operational updates, or missed critical whitepaper milestones without a reasonable public explanation. The notices do not assign a specific reason to each individual pair.

Under the exchange’s published rules, a low-liquidity classification requires meeting three of four tests: a bid-ask spread above 0.5% (subject to tick-size adjustment); average daily pair volume below 30,000 USDT for three consecutive months; no trades for 120 consecutive minutes outside a technical issue; or a market capitalization below 3 million USDT for three consecutive months.

A separate potential-risk classification needs only one listed condition. Those conditions include a technical or security breach, failure to update or disclose project information, possible legal or regulatory violations, negative public reports, market misconduct, or a high-risk assessment by the exchange’s internal teams.

Users must pass the Risk Cognizance Test before placing trades on any pair labeled “Special Treatment.” Phemex will continue to monitor the listed markets, may remove the designation if conditions improve, or may delist tokens if conditions deteriorate. The notices do not set a deadline for withdrawals from the affected markets.

Holders were advised to monitor Phemex announcements and to assess the risks while the exchange’s observation period continues.