A Nordic digital asset exchange plans to delist the privacy-focused cryptocurrency Monero in order to meet international anti-money laundering standards.
Estonia-based BitBay announced on Monday that Monero (XML) will no longer be tradable starting February 19, 2020. However, the cryptocurrency exchange plans to suspend XML deposits this Friday, November 29th, and temporarily block withdrawals from Friday. He until December 5th, around the time of the planned Monero hard fork.
According to the notice, all users have until May 20, 2020 to withdraw their remaining XML.
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Regarding this move, BitBay explained that Monero will be delisted due to privacy features. This cryptocurrency uses a technique called ring signatures, which jumbles together small groups of transactions to obfuscate an individual's identity.
“This decision was made to prevent money laundering and possible inflows from external networks,” the company said, adding that other crypto exchanges have also suspended Monero trading due to similar concerns.
“As a licensed exchange, BitBay must comply with market standards. Compliance with market standards and regulations ensures legal safety and security through the participation of friendly banking systems and the use of payment providers. We can offer our customers the convenience of using an exchange,” BitBay said.
As mentioned earlier, Monero's privacy protections have led other trading platforms to stop supporting it in recent months. For example, OKEx Korea discontinued horizen (ZEN) and super bitcoin (SBTC) in addition to XML in his October. The company said at the time that it was considering the decision to delist Zcash and Dash as well.
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Other privacy coins are also considered too risky by some exchanges. Coinbase removed zcash from its UK platform in August. The move was likely a compliance drive related to the creation of a new banking relationship after being dropped by Barclays.
A spate of delistings has occurred since the Financial Action Task Force, a global money laundering watchdog, released international guidance on crypto assets in July.
