Binance Delists Privacy Tokens in Europe

In Europe, cryptocurrency will become less private as the significant exchange Binance prepares to delist all privacy tokens in countries such as France and Italy.

Beginning on June 26, Binance customers in France, Italy, Poland, and Spain will no longer be able to trade privacy tokens such as Monero or Zcash.

According to a Binance spokesperson, the new restrictions affect 12 coins. Decred (DCR), Dash (DASH), ZEC, Horizen (ZEN), PIVX (PIVX), Navcoin (NAV), Secret (SCRT), Verge (XVG), Firo (FIRO), Beam (BEAM), XMR, and MobileCoin (MOB) are affected tokens. Adding:

 “As part of Binance’s ongoing compliance processes, we have reached out to affected users, to notify them that they will no longer be able to purchase or trade privacy tokens on our platform after June 26th.”

Binance stated in an email to French customers that it could no longer offer enhanced anonymity crypto assets, or CAE, in several European countries due to local regulatory requirements.

To increase user privacy, privacy-focused tokens such as Monero or Zcash are designed to obscure blockchain transactions.

Invoking anti-money laundering (AML) and counterterrorism financing concerns, governments worldwide have been actively opposing the adoption of privacy-focused cryptocurrencies and other crypto privacy tools.

The major cryptocurrency exchange Huobi terminated support for seven privacy coins, including Monero, in September 2022, citing regulatory pressures.

Previously, United States authorities authorized the use of the prominent cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash.

The news comes as major AML regulations by the Financial Action Task Force, known as the Travel Rule, are being implemented by global jurisdictions.

One of the most critical aspects of the Travel Rule is providing regulators with specific customer data regarding crypto transactions.