Centralized Exchanges Undertake Massive Delisting of Privacy Tokens

This year, centralized exchanges have recorded nearly 60 delistings of privacy tokens, the highest since 2021, according to a recent Kaiko report.

Notable tokens affected include Monero (XMR), Dash (DASH), and Zcash (ZEC), with Monero facing the most significant impact, seeing a sixfold increase in removals.

The surge in delistings is largely attributed to regulatory pressures across various regions. Japan initiated a trading ban on privacy coins in 2018, a move followed by similar restrictions in Australia and South Korea in 2020. The United Arab Emirates and the European Union have also tightened regulations, leading to broader delistings.

Major exchanges have reacted to this regulatory environment. Kraken, for example, has restricted XMR trading for European users, while Binance has fully delisted Monero. Other platforms like OKX and Huobi have also stopped offering privacy token pairs, citing regulatory concerns.

Conversely, exchanges with lighter regulatory oversight, such as Poloniex and Yobit, are now capturing a significant share of the trading volume for privacy tokens, accounting for nearly 40%, up from 18% in 2021. The demand for these tokens on these platforms has become so strong that they often exceed available liquidity.