cryptocurrency exchange Binance Added “monitoring tag” to the list of cryptocurrencies, including privacy coins. Monero (XMR), Zcash (ZEC), Horizen (ZEN) and Firo (FIRO).
In the announcement, Binance said tokens with the monitoring tag “exhibit significantly higher volatility and risk compared to other listed tokens” and are at risk of “no longer meeting listing criteria” and being delisted from the exchange.
He added that tokens with monitoring tags are subject to regular review. Criteria considered during the review include trading volume and liquidity, network stability and security, “contribution to a healthy and sustainable cryptocurrency ecosystem,” as well as “responsiveness to regular due diligence requests.”
To trade tokens tagged with monitoring, users must pass a quiz to ensure they are “aware of the risks,” Binance said in an announcement. Other services related to listed tokens, including trading, will not be affected.
Other tokens tagged with monitoring include Aragon (ANT), Keep3rV1 (KP3R), Mdex (MDX), MobileCoin (MOB), Reef (REEF), and Vai (VAI).
Reuben Yap, co-founder of Firo, said: decryption The monitoring tag has been applied to Firo and other privacy coins “due to increased regulatory pressure from MiCA, recent initiatives by US regulators, and Binance’s compliance with the US DoJ settlement.”
He said the project has been “actively discussing this matter with Binance since September 2023” and that the proposal to implement Exchange Addresses, a tool that the exchange claims will allow it to maintain regulatory compliance while respecting user privacy, has been “accepted.” “It is done,” he said. “Positively,” we exchanged.
decryption We’ve reached out to Binance for comment and will update this article once the exchange responds.
Binance and Privacy Coins
Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum Use a pseudonym wallet address. Because the ledger is public, transactions can be traced if the address can be linked to the user’s identity. Privacy coins are a type of cryptocurrency that uses encryption technology to protect identifying information in transactions, allowing users to transact anonymously.
Binance has had difficulty listing privacy coins on its platform in some regions. In May 2023, the exchange delisted several privacy coins, including Monero, Zcash, and Horizen, from France, Italy, Poland, and Spain, a month after the affected Announced that it would be backtracking a number of cryptocurrencies.
However, a number of privacy coins, including Monero, are still affected by the ban, and Binance is “obliged” to comply with local regulations that require exchanges “to be able to monitor trading of coins listed on our platform.” He stated that there is.
In September 2023, Binance announced that it would expand the delisting of privacy coins, including Monero, Horizen, and Firo, to Belgium.
Privacy coins have long been under scrutiny by U.S. regulators and law enforcement agencies. Since 2020, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has been offering rewards to anyone who violates Monero’s privacy.
In a December 2020 notice of proposed rulemaking, the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) noted that “anonymity-enhanced cryptocurrencies” (AEC) protocols limit investigators’ ability to “track transaction flows on distributed public ledgers.” I did. Its links to illicit activities are well-documented.” The notice designates Monero as an “AEC type.”
Binance’s decision to mark its privacy coins with monitoring tags comes as the exchange opens its ledgers for monitoring by U.S. financial regulators and law enforcement agencies after concluding a multibillion-dollar settlement with U.S. regulators.
Under the terms of the settlement, Binance will be subject to extensive monitoring, including complying with regulators’ “requests for information” and retroactively filing Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) for its transactions from 2018 to 2022, which will be submitted to U.S. law enforcement agencies. It is released to the public. Agency. Former SEC attorney John Reed Stark described Binance’s agreement with U.S. regulators as a “24/7/365 financial colonoscopy.”