By Tobi Loba
According to a report, cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex will delist privacy coins Monero (XMR), ZCash, and Dash on 15th January 2021 at 23:00 UTC.
The exchange announced the upcoming development a few hours ago, via its official Twitter handle and website:
“Bittrex Customers: The XMR, ZEC, and DASH markets will be removed on Friday, January 15th at 23:00 UTC.”
#Bittrex Customers:
The $XMR, $ZEC, and $DASH markets will be removed on Friday, January 15th at 23:00 UTC.
Details: https://t.co/8qAdjuwryJ
— Bittrex (@BittrexExchange) January 1, 2021
Read Also: US Internal Revenue Services (IRS) Will Pay $625,000 To Whoever Cracks Monero Network’s Privacy Wall
The reason for the intending action cannot be ascertained as at the time of filing this report. But the fact that all the coins affected are privacy coins (a type of digital currency that offer untraceable transactions) makes it look like there is an upcoming regulatory clampdown.
According to the report, the following trading pairs of the three privacy tokens will be removed from the trading platform as slated:
- BTC-XMR, ETH-XMR, USDT-XMR
- BTC-ZEC, ETH-ZEC, USDT-ZEC, USD-ZEC
- BTC-DASH, ETH-DASH, USDT-DASH, USD-DASH
The exchange further stated that users will be given up to 30 days to withdraw their tokens after the trading pairs are removed, adding that the grace period could be discretely shortened.
Privacy Tokens’ Challenges with Regulators
All Monero (XMR) transactions are private by default, while ZCash and Dash have an option for private transactions. This class of digital tokens is under the intense scrutiny of regulators. These regulators see the digital assets as facilitators of illegal activity.
For instance, the prominent Darknet marketplace, White House Market, only accepts Monero (XMR) due to its privacy features. It chooses not to accept other coins such as Bitcoin because their transactions can be easily traced.
However, Bittrex had emphasized evolving regulatory standards and other compliance issues as its reasons for delisting tokens.
Read Also: An Attempt by Attacker to Breach Monero (XMR) Users’ Privacy Failed
It can be recalled that Bittrex joined several crypto exchanges to delist the digital token XRP, following the lawsuit filed by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against Ripple, for the sale of the cryptocurrency alleged as an unregistered security by the regulator.
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Telegram, and Download Our Android App.