Popular Europe-based crypto exchange, Bitbay has announced that it would no longer support Monero (XMR).
Goodbye Monero. According to an official report by Bitbay, the decision will take effect on February 19, 2020. XMR orders will be canceled on or before February 19, 2020. All XMR withdrawal must also take place on or before May 20, 2020.
Bitbay disclosed the reason for the delisting. It has to do with the fact that Monero is a privacy coin. It makes use of a tech known as ring signatures. This feature disrupts small groups of transactions, blurring their individual identities. The termination will also help hinder the possibilities of “money laundering and incoming flows from external networks.”
BitBay explained that being a licensed exchange, it has to ensure it adheres strictly to market regulatory standards. This will help provide its customers with strong security and convenience in their dealings and transactions. It will also maintain a system that is user-friendly and enable access to payment operators.
Exchanges’ concern over privacy coins
Bitpay isn’t the only exchange to withdraw its support for Monero. For example, OKEx Korea and horizon (ZEN) has recently dropped XML. Upbit recently withdrew support for Monero (XMR) as well, alongside similar assets in a bid to reduce fraudulent activities.
Other privacy coins are also subject to extra scrutiny. Thus, in August, Coinbase dropped Zcash from its U.K. platform due to similar concerns. The exchange’s decision to delist privacy-centered digital assets was taken in compliance with the “Travel Rule.” To remind, the Financial Action Task Force [FATF] mandates all crypto exchanges to follow this rule. It requires businesses to identify each parties involved in either sending and receiving of funds especially if the transaction value is more than $1,000.
Besides its privacy features, Monero is highly vulnerable to crypto jackers. This is because of its mining design that uses the CPU-centric computing power.
