Monero (XMR) price has fallen nearly 7% in the past 24 hours after Kraken announced its move to delist the digital asset in Europe.
In response to this regulatory change, Kraken, one of the oldest crypto exchanges, has decided to remove Monero for users in the European Economic Area.
Kraken delists Monero, XMR price drops more than 7%
Therefore, all Monero market trading and deposits for EEA customers will end on October 31st, and any outstanding orders will be automatically cancelled.
According to the official announcement, users have until December 31st to withdraw Monero. Any unwithdrawn balance will then be automatically converted to BTC at the market rate.
Kraken explained that new regulatory requirements require it to delist Monero (XMR) for users within the European Economic Area (EEA). He insisted that this call was not taken lightly. The price of XMR immediately fell by more than 7%.
This is the second such move after Binance took a similar action in February amid mounting pressure on privacy-focused cryptocurrencies.
Reports in the first half of this year had already suggested that privacy coins including Monero, Zcash, and Horizen were expected to be delisted by major exchanges amid increased regulatory scrutiny.
XMR bans spread as regulators aim for anonymity
Earlier this year, Kraken suspended XMR trading to Ireland and Belgium, and on April 11, users were told: “Either don't close your position or we'll close it for you automatically.” . In 2021, it stopped supporting Monero customers in the UK.
Global regulations are cracking down on privacy tokens. Bans against them have so far spanned various jurisdictions. Japan's ban on anonymity-enhancing tokens went into effect in 2018, while South Korea reportedly issued a similar ban on trading such tokens on its platforms in 2020.
Australian exchanges have recently delisted some of these privacy tokens due to new regulations. The most recent ban, as of this writing, was carried out by Dubai on February 7, 2023, banning all activities related to the issuance of privacy coins and anonymity-enhanced tokens.
XMR price finally broke below the downtrend line drawn between several lows since early August on September 24th, down 14.5% from the previous week. The stock closed on Tuesday below the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level at $152.83, calculated from an early August low of $135.98 to this month's high of $180.10.
At the time of writing, XMR price was $140.19, down 5.82%.
Correspondingly, Coinglass’ long/short ratio is 0.9, further reiterating Monero’s bearish outlook. This number is below 1, indicating that more traders are taking bearish positions in hopes of a decline in the XMR price.
Tornado Cash developer jailed: privacy technology comes under fire
Another incident that most certainly raised red flags among privacy advocates and critics involved legal troubles faced by the developers of decentralized cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash.
Unlike privacy coins, which by their nature keep transaction details private to third-party bystanders, mixers anonymize assets through public transactions, such as Bitcoin. Privacy coins like XMR inherently negate the need for mixers, given that transaction details are private to begin with by their very nature.
Despite their differences, trustless decentralized mixers and privacy coins have in common that they are permissionless systems that are beyond the control of their creators, and for example, any form of government monitoring is prohibited.
However, due to a similar lack of oversight, a Dutch court recently found Tornado Cash developer Alexei Pertsev guilty of money laundering and sentenced him to five years and four months in prison.
Teuta
Teuta is a veteran writer and editor with over 15 years of experience in the macroeconomics, technology, cryptocurrency and blockchain industries. He started his career in 2005 as a lifestyle writer for Cosmopolitan magazine in Croatia and went on to cover business and economics for prestigious publications such as Forbes and Bloomberg. Influenced by figures like Don Tapscott and Bruce Dickinson, Teuta embraced the blockchain revolution, believing that cryptocurrencies are one of humanity's most important inventions. Her fintech efforts began in 2014 and focused on cryptocurrencies, blockchain, NFTs, and Web3. Known for his excellent teamwork and communication skills, Teuta holds a double master's degree in political science and law, loves punk rock and Chablis, and has a passion for shoes.
Disclaimer: The content presented may contain the personal opinion of the author and is subject to market conditions. Do your market research before investing in cryptocurrencies. The author or publication assumes no responsibility for your personal financial loss.
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