Binance Delists XMR, Monero Falls 17%

Binance will delist privacy coin Monero (XMR) along with several other assets on Feb. 20, the company announced in a blog post on Tuesday morning.

Following the news, the price of XMR fell 17% and is currently trading at $138.00, according to data from CoinGecko. With a market capitalization of $2.6 billion, it is by far the largest asset to be delisted.

Other coins include Aragon (ANT), Multichain (MULTI), and Vai (VAI).

Aragon is a no-code DAO creation and management platform that allows users to distribute tokens, approve wallets for voting, and set governance rules. Vai is the native token of Venus Protocol, a decentralized stablecoin issuer.

MultiChain, which helps users bridge assets and NFTs across multiple blockchains, made headlines last year when $126 million worth of funds suddenly disappeared. Shortly after, blockchain analytics firms suggested it may have been an inside job. A week later, Chinese police confirmed they had detained the team's CEO, and the rest of the team said they couldn't access the protocol due to the executive's disappearance.

So, there doesn't appear to be a common theme among all of the soon-to-be delisted tokens. In its announcement, Binance cited several reasons for targeting tokens for delisting, including trading volume and liquidity, stability and security, public communications, and evidence of unethical or fraudulent behavior.

“If a coin or token no longer meets these standards or the industry changes, we will conduct a more in-depth review and potentially delist it,” Binance said in a blog post. “We believe this is the best way to protect all our users.”

In early January, Binance announced that it was considering several assets, including Monero, Zcash, and Horizen.

The crypto exchange, the world's largest by daily trading volume, warned that funds deposited after the delisting on Feb. 20 will not be credited to users' accounts. However, it said token withdrawals will be supported until May 20.