Kraken to Delist Monero in Europe Amid Regulatory Pressures, Privacy Coin Faces 7% Drop

According to data from AD Decrypt's Art, Fashion, and Entertainment Hub, the privacy coin Monero is taking a hit. It's down nearly 7% in the last 24 hours after Kraken announced it will delist Monero in Europe.

Kraken, one of the oldest crypto exchanges out there, informed users that it will remove Monero for clients in the European Economic Area (EEA) due to regulatory changes. Trading and deposits for all Monero markets will stop on October 31 for EEA clients. Any open orders will be automatically closed. Users have until December 31 to withdraw their Monero. After that, any remaining balances will be converted to Bitcoin (BTC) at the current market rate.

Kraken explained, “We concluded we have no choice but to delist Monero (XMR) in the European Economic Area (EEA) due to regulatory changes.” They emphasized that this decision was not made lightly.

This news follows Binance's earlier announcement in February about its decision to delist Monero, which was finalized later that month. The pressure on privacy-focused cryptocurrencies is increasing. Reports about potential delistings for privacy coins like Monero, Zcash (ZEC), and Horizen (ZEN) began circulating as early as January.

Another issue causing concern among privacy advocates is the legal trouble faced by the developers of the decentralized cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash. Mixers and privacy coins serve different purposes. Mixers anonymize public transactions, like those of Bitcoin. In contrast, privacy coins like Monero ensure that no third party can access transaction details, making mixers unnecessary.

Authorities are worried about developers who create and deploy smart contract-based privacy solutions on the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain, which they can’t control. Despite the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioning Tornado Cash in 2022, it still operates and processed over $1.9 billion in the first half of 2024.

This ongoing lawsuit is seen as a potential legal precedent. It could hold developers of privacy software accountable for criminal misuse that they couldn’t have prevented without compromising the system’s security and privacy features. This could have implications beyond the crypto industry.

In another development, the cryptocurrency market faced a significant sell-off. Bitcoin's price dropped over 5% late Tuesday, leading to liquidations exceeding $526 million within 24 hours. Long positions accounted for $453 million of those liquidations, while short positions totaled $73 million, according to CoinGlass. As of early Wednesday, Bitcoin was down 3.5%, trading at $61,720. Ethereum (ETH) saw a decline of over 6%, trading at $2,480, according to CoinGecko data.

A recent poll by blockchain firm Consensys and polling company HarrisX found that cryptocurrency is considered an "important" issue by nearly half of U.S. voters. The survey, which has a margin of error of 2.4%, revealed that 49% of U.S. voters view a candidate’s stance on crypto as “important” when making voting decisions. The poll surveyed over 1,600 registered voters and highlighted a notable split in political support within the crypto community.

Analysts suggest that Bitcoin might be gearing up for a rally in the coming months. Several factors could provide a much-needed boost to the market. Despite a 4% decline on Tuesday following Iran’s missile strike on Israel, Bitcoin has rebounded from two-week lows. It climbed above $61,500 after dropping to as low as $60,300. This decline followed Iran launching over 180 ballistic missiles at Israel in retaliation for Israeli strikes on Hezbollah positions in Lebanon.