In an announcement released on Monday, the crypto exchange BitBay has affirmed that it will stop its support for the cryptocurrency Monero (XMR). The trading platform will stop its support on 19th February, 2020.
Monero is a privacy-oriented digital coin. To keep up with the market standard, BitBay has decided to end its services for all cryptocurrencies that revolve around privacy. The decision was made to ensure that no money laundering activity takes place or there is no unidentified and illicit flow of funds from dubious external channels.
BitBay is not the only platform delisting privacy-focused cryptocurrencies. Exchanges such as Upbit and OKex are either considering or have already delisted such digital currencies from their system.
Back in September, OKex delisted Monero (XMR), DASH, Zcash (ZEC), Horizon (ZEN) and Super Bitcoin (SBTC) for the exact same reasons as BitBay. These virtual coins fail to follow the guidelines of the FATF (G20’s Financial Action Task Force). These digital currencies are known to be used in criminal activities such as money laundering since they offer a high level of anonymity and privacy. They are difficult to track, and hence giving an open playing field to criminals to use them however they like.
Dash’s developer, Omar Hamwi, commented on the delisting in a blog post. According to him, Dash follows the same rules and guidelines as Bitcoin(BTC)trade and “the decision to delist Dash was based merely on the media’s portrayal of Dash as a ‘privacy coin’ and not rooted in actual analysis regarding the nature of Dash’s blockchain.”
Too Private Cryptocurrencies?
Digital coins like Monero make it difficult to trace cryptocurrency transactions. It is a highly privacy-focused technology that involves ring signatures and mixing; such cryptocurrencies actively try to prevent tracing and analysis. Hence, it is difficult to say when these virtual coins will be listed again because currently no working technology exists that can easily trace their transactions.
According to Germany’s Federal Ministry of Finance, the continuous increase of Monero within the darknet makes it even a larger threat than Bitcoin. In a report released by the ministry, it stated:
“Due to the increasing popularity of Monero on the Darknet, it can be foreseen that this crypto asset, especially, will gain more practical relevance in the future in the area of securing and exploitation.”
As for BitBay, the timeline for its end of transaction for Monero is as follows:
- 29th November 2019 – End of Monero deposits support and Monero withdrawals
- 19th February 2020 – End of trading Monero support and orders cancelation
- 20th May 2020 – Deadline for Monero withdrawals.
