Privacy coin Monero is tumbling, down nearly 7% in the last 24 hours after Kraken announced its delisting in Europe.

Kraken – one of the oldest crypto exchanges in the world – has informed users that it will delist Monero from customers in the European Economic Area (EEA) due to regulatory changes.

Trading and deposits on all Monero markets will cease for EEA customers on October 31st and all open orders will be automatically closed. The deadline for Monero withdrawal is December 31st and remaining balances after this date will be converted into Bitcoin (BTC) at the market rate.

Kraken explained that the exchange “has concluded that due to regulatory changes, we have no choice but to delist Monero (XMR) in the European Economic Area (EEA).” The announcement continued: “We We didn’t make this decision easy for us.”

The development follows Binance’s announcement in February of delisting Monero (XMR) and its finalization later this month. The announcements follow increasing pressure for privacy-focused cryptocurrency solutions. In fact, reports were already circulating at the beginning of January that privacy coins such as Monero, Zcash (ZEC) and Horizen (ZEN) were at risk of delisting.

Another case that has drawn the attention – and ire – of privacy activists is the legal consequences facing the developers behind decentralized cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash. Mixers differ from privacy coins in that they anonymize assets with public transactions like Bitcoin. Privacy coins like Monero instead ensure that no third party can even review the details of a transaction – eliminating the need for mixers in the first place.

Nevertheless, what trustless decentralized mixers and privacy coins have in common is that they are permissionless systems outside the control of their creators and escape control by anyone, including governments. Despite this lack of control, Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev was found guilty of money laundering by a Dutch court and sentenced to five years and four months in prison.

Authorities find it concerning that developers have programmed and deployed a smart, contract-based privacy solution on the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain over which they have no control. In fact, despite Tornado Cash being sanctioned by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control in 2022, Tornado Cash is still operating and has received more than $1.9 billion in the first six months of 2024.

Many view the ongoing lawsuit as a legal precedent for prosecuting privacy software developers for criminal abuses that they could not have prevented without compromising the system’s security and privacy features. Something that could have far-reaching consequences beyond the crypto industry.

Edited by Stacy Elliott.