Privacy coin Monero (XMR) collapses

As of Feb. 20, Binance customers can no longer trade the privacy coin Monero (XMR). The crypto exchange announced this in a statement on Feb. 6. The reason: XMR does not meet the industry standard Binance wants. Recordings of the coin will not be supported after May 20.

Monero is known for its strong privacy features and would according to the official website even be untraceable. Privacy-enhancing technologies include Ring Confidential Transactions (RingCT), ring signatures and stealth addresses.

RingCT mixes transactions to hide the origin of the money, while ring signatures hide the identity of the sender among a group of possible senders. Stealth addresses, however, make tracking even more difficult because a separate address is generated for each transaction. This level of anonymity has attracted not only many users with a focus on privacy, but also the attention of authorities, for example in Finland.

Reason enough for crypto exchange OKX to kick Monero off its platform by the end of 2023. Binance is now following suit. This announcement has already had a major impact on XMR's share price. In the past 7 days, the privacy coin has fallen about 27 percent and was trading at USD 122.40 at the time of writing.