XMR Price Plummets 7% As Kraken Delists Monero

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As a seasoned crypto investor who has witnessed the rollercoaster ride of digital assets, I must admit that the recent 7% plunge in Monero (XMR) price due to Kraken’s delisting is a stark reminder of the ever-changing regulatory landscape in this space.

The cost of Monero (XMR) has dropped by almost 7% within the past 24 hours, following Kraken’s decision to withdraw the cryptocurrency from their European market offerings.

As an analyst, I’ve observed that in response to recent regulatory adjustments, I, myself, have noted that Kraken, a long-standing player in the crypto exchange market, has chosen to discontinue offering Monero to users residing within the European Economic Area.

Kraken Delists Monero, XMR price down over 7%

All Monero trading and deposit operations will henceforth be suspended on October 31st for clients within the European Economic Area. Any pending orders placed by these clients will be automatically terminated.

As a crypto investor, I’ve learned from the recent announcement that I need to withdraw my Monero by December 31st. Any remaining balances not withdrawn by then will be automatically converted into Bitcoin at the current market rate.

Kraken announced they would remove Monero (XMR) from their platform for users within the European Economic Area (EEA), citing fresh regulatory demands as the reason. They emphasized that this decision wasn’t made lightly, and shortly after, the XMR price dropped significantly by more than 7%.

This step is similar to one that Binance made earlier, in February, following mounting scrutiny towards privacy-focused cryptocurrencies. In simpler terms, this is the second time such an action has been taken by Binance, due to growing pressure on these types of digital currencies that prioritize privacy.

Initially, reports suggested that privacy-focused cryptocurrencies such as Monero, Zcash, and Horizen could potentially be removed from prominent digital asset exchanges due to increased regulatory oversight.

XMR Bans Spread as Regulators Target Anonymity

Previously this year, I found myself compelled to halt trading XMR for both Ireland and Belgium on Kraken. On April 11th, I communicated with the affected users, instructing them to either close their positions or risk having them automatically closed by our platform. It’s important to note that in 2021, I also ceased support for Monero customers residing within the United Kingdom.

Global privacy token regulations have grown stricter, with various regions imposing bans on their use. For instance, Japan enforced a ban on anonymity-enhanced tokens in 2018, and South Korea reportedly followed suit by prohibiting trades of these tokens on platforms as early as 2020.

Recently, Australian trading platforms have chosen to remove certain privacy tokens due to new regulations. The most recent ban, as of now, was announced by Dubai on February 7, 2023, which prohibits all transactions related to privacy coins and the creation of anonymity-improving tokens.

On September 24, the price of XMR dipped below a trendline that had been forming since the start of August, marking a 14.5% decrease compared to the previous week. Additionally, on Tuesday, it closed beneath the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level, which is approximately $152.83, a value calculated from the low in early August ($135.98) to its peak this month ($180.10).

At the time of writing XMR price stood at $140.19 and was down by 5.82%.

In a recent analysis, the short position to long position ratio for Coinglass regarding Monero stands at 0.9. This implies that there’s a stronger preference among traders for betting on a decline in Monero’s price, supporting the bearish view.

Tornado Cash Dev Jailed: Privacy Tech Under Fire

A noteworthy event, which has sparked concerns among privacy proponents and garnered criticism, revolves around the legal challenges encountered by the creators of the decentralized cryptocurrency blender known as Tornado Cash.

Unlike privacy coins, which inherently conceal transaction information from external observers because of their design, mixers obscure assets by involving public transactions, as seen with Bitcoin. Coins such as Monero don’t require mixers due to their inherent property of keeping transaction details confidential right off the bat.

Although they may differ in various aspects, both trustless decentralized mixers and privacy coins share a common characteristic: they are self-governing systems that operate independently of their creators, thus avoiding any kind of control or oversight, be it from governments or other entities.

But the same lack of oversight hasn’t saved a Dutch court from recently convicting Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev of money laundering, slapping him with five years and four months in prison.

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2024-10-02 19:54