Kraken ends Monero trading in Ireland and Belgium ahead of ban

Users with Monero balances on Kraken after the deadline will have their coins automatically converted into Bitcoin.

Crypto exchange Kraken has announced that it is winding down support for the Monero (XMR) privacy token for its customers based in Ireland and Belgium.

Kraken posted a notice saying it would halt the trading and deposits for XMR from May 10. The exchange added that all margin trading positions must be closed before that deadline. If not, Kraken will close the positions automatically.

The exchange also said that it will fully delist Monero from its platform on June 10. This means withdrawals for the XMR token for Ireland and Belgium users will be halted on that date.

Kraken explained that users with any remaining XMR tokens on their accounts after the deadline will have their balances automatically converted into Bitcoin (BTC).

The news follows recent developments in the European Union prohibiting crypto asset service providers (CASPs) from providing accounts for anonymous users or using privacy-focused tokens like Monero.

Meanwhile, the tokens price seems unaffected by the new development as it hovers around $132.35. The token recorded a 24-hour high of $136.59 and a weekly high of $139.15, according to CoinGecko.

3-month price chart for the Monero token. Source: CoinGecko

In February, Binance announced that it would delist Monero, sending the tokens price down. On Feb. 6, the XMR token went from $165 to a five-month low of $136 on Binance. The price plummeted further on Feb. 7 to $105 but quickly recovered the next day.

Regulators across the globe have been cracking down on privacy-focused tokens since 2018. Japan was the first to initiate a ban on anonymity-enhanced tokens.

In 2020, South Koreas financial watchdog also started to ban privacy coins from exchanges, while Australian exchanges has started to delist privacy tokens due to regulatory updates.

On Feb. 7, 2023, Dubai also released guidelines prohibiting the issuance of anonymity-enhanced tokens and all virtual asset activities related to privacy coins.

Apart from Binance and Kraken, exchanges like Huobi and OKX also announced the delisting of Monero and other privacy-focused digital assets. Huobi delisted Monero on Sept. 19, 2022, in an effort to comply with global regulations.

The token has been fully delisted from OKXs trading platform since Jan. 5. The exchange said that the delisting is part of its efforts to “maintain a robust spot trading environment.” OKX also noted that the decision follows feedback from its users.