Privacy-focused cryptocurrency Monero has plummeted to to 5-month lows levels in response to Binance’s impending delisting of the token from its platform.
On February 20, 2024, Binance will delist Monero in addition to Aragon (ANT), Multichain (MULTI), and Vai (VAI), the exchange announced on February 6.
The delisting will lead to the elimination of all four trading pairings involving Monero on Binance. These pairs will consist of transactions involving Bitcoin, Ether, Tether, and Binance Coin, the native coin of Binance.
The announcement further states that withdrawals of these tokens will no longer be supported after May 20, 2024. “All trade orders will be automatically removed once trading ceases in each respective trading pair,” stipulates.
Binance stated that although users can convert the delisted XMR into stablecoins after May 21, the conversion “is not guaranteed.” “Where applicable, a separate notification will be issued before the conversion, and users’ Binance accounts will be credited with the stablecoins following the conversion,” the company added.
“Contribution to a healthy and sustainable crypto ecosystem,” “Evidence of unethical or fraudulent conduct or negligence,” and “responsiveness to Binance’s periodic due diligence requests” are some of the criteria that informed the decision to delist XMR.
As a direct result of the delisting announcement, the value of Monero tokens crashed precipitously. TradingView data indicates that XMR plummeted to a low of $136 on Binance at 9:21 am UTC, losing nearly 19% of its value in just a couple of hours.
According to TradingView data, the Monero price has marginally rebounded since then, with XMR trading at $140.30 at the time of writing. Monero has reached its lowest point since the middle of September 2023.
Beyond Binance, other exchanges have also delisted Monero. OKX, a cryptocurrency exchange, announced in late 2023 that it would delist Monero and another privacy-focused coin, Zcash (ZEC), on January 5, 2024.
In June 2023, Binance rescinded its previous announcement that it would delist all privacy tokens in countries such as France and Italy in May 2023.
Some online commentators speculate that the delisting could harm Binance and Monero.
“While bad for Monero, I primarily see this delisting as a sign of Binance’s gradual demise,” wrote John Brown, a cryptocurrency trader, in an X post.
Notwithstanding the confession of former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao to violations of anti-money laundering and sanctions legislation in a U.S. court in late 2023, international regulatory bodies have maintained their scrutiny of the exchange. As of late January, indications indicated that Binance.US might face operational restrictions in Florida and Alaska.
Zhao, who neglected to obtain authorization to visit his residence in the United Arab Emirates, faces a maximum of 18 months in prison when he is sentenced in the United States on February 23, 2024.