As of May 14th, all transactions on LocalMonero are disabled. And parent company Agora Desk, which is also winding down, said in a statement that the entire website will be removed within six months.
“After nearly seven years of operation, due to a combination of internal and external factors, we have made the difficult decision to close our platform.
“We are extremely grateful for the love and support we have received over the years. We could not have done it without you. We love you all,” the statement read. was.
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As mentioned in the announcement, LocalMonero, a peer-to-peer exchange created to trade the eponymous privacy coin Monero (XMR), has been around for most of Monero's lifespan.
Although AgoraDesk hasn't disclosed a specific reason for the closure, it's easy enough to intuitively understand why. In recent months, a number of P2P cryptocurrency trading platforms, including LocalBitcoins and Paxful, have claimed exits, a trend largely due to regulatory headwinds. In other words:
“Regulatory challenges in the industry continue to become acute, particularly in the paper-to-peer market, particularly in the United States. We're asking you to consider doing business with us,'' said former Paxful CEO Ray Youssef. statement At the time, the now-defunct platform was shut down.
LocalMonero’s problems were further exacerbated by regulatory pressure on privacy coins. Cryptocurrency exchanges OKX, Binance, and Coinbase have all actively delisted privacy-preserving tokens like monero and zcash (ZEC), leaving services like LocalMonero one of the few places to buy XMR. .
LocalMonero functioned a bit like Craigslist, providing a place for individuals to post advertisements to buy and sell XMR in a variety of ways. Basically any payment method agreed upon by the trading partners will work. One ad, aimed at people who wanted to exchange Monero for cash directly, listed the Detroit Zoo as a meeting point.
LocalMonero token sales generally had small price increases. This is because users are willing to pay a premium to buy tokens on platforms that require a limited identity (although it was customary for sellers to require an identity as a kind of failsafe) . It offered an “arbitration bond” in which an equal amount of Monero was held in escrow so that LocalMonero could refund users if the seller was unable to remit the funds.
Where can I buy Monero now?
LocalMonero is “the cornerstone of the non-KYC Monero ecosystem” and semi-anonymous privacy advocate Seth for Privacy said X, adding that Monero's shutdown leaves users with little rail to move their tokens from fiat to crypto. He said today was an “incredibly sad day.”
On Reddit and LocalMonero forums, users discussed alternatives to buying XMR, the largest privacy coin with a market capitalization of $2.5 billion. This involves buying another cryptocurrency like Bitcoin (BTC) or Litecoin (LTC), sending it to your privacy-focused Cake Wallet, and exchanging it for XMR.
The Bisq peer-to-peer network also allows swapping between cryptocurrencies to Monero. Kraken also continues to offer Monero purchases, but excludes users from certain countries such as the UK and Australia, and plans to expand that list to Ireland and Belgium in June. Less secure purchasing options include buying directly from someone on a messaging app like Telegram.
Meanwhile, LocalMonero recommended non-custodial decentralized exchange Haveno Serai, an open source alternative that has not yet been fully launched. Haveno runs on the Tor network and works using atomic swaps, while Serai Multi-signature setup.
The old adage “where there's a will, there's a way” will continue to hold true for those looking to make anonymous transactions using cryptocurrencies like Monero, but access to blockchain-based privacy technologies will continue to hold true. There is no doubt that it is becoming increasingly difficult. And this trend will be difficult to reverse.
But every day that the Monero network is maintained, and every day that XMR is used for purchases, is also a day that proves the power and resilience of decentralized systems.
“The Fed must really hate Monero. I think that's a sign they'll keep using it,” said one Reddit user.
Note: The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of CoinDesk, Inc. or its owners and affiliates.
