After announcing the suspension of anonymity-enhanced cryptocurrencies – or privacy coins – in France, Binance is reportedly preparing to do an about-face. According to the media outlet The Block, representatives of the exchange have indicated that they have reviewed their classification of assets in order to avoid de-listing certain cryptocurrencies.
Binance flip-flops on privacy coins
This news comes to us from our colleagues at The Block, an American media outlet renowned for the seriousness and quality of its information. Representatives of Binance, the world’s leading cryptocurrency trading platform, have explained that they intend to continue offering privacy coins trading in France.
As a reminder, just under a month ago Binance indicated that it would have to stop supporting cryptocurrencies with enhanced anonymity (CAE). Behind this definition, the exchange platform is referring to cryptocurrencies whose transactions are difficult to trace. This list of 12 assets, shared on 30 May, includes Monero and Zcash.
Initially, the suspension was scheduled to take effect from 26 June 2023. However, Binance has indicated that it has modified the definition of CAEs and therefore the way in which these “privacy coins” are classified. As a result, some cryptocurrencies could be removed from the initial list. Here’s what a Binance spokesperson had to say to The Block:
“After carefully considering feedback from our community and several projects, we have revised the way we classify privacy coins on our platform to comply with EU regulatory requirements. “
At the time of writing, we do not yet know which cryptocurrencies are affected.
Community discussions
In all likelihood, this decision is the result of numerous discussions with the community and players in the ecosystem. A case in point is this tweet, published on 23 June by Secret Network, a blockchain offering programmable anonymity services:
@binance will not be delisting $SCRT, along with six other privacy-focused cryptocurrencies, in European countries. Read the full story below!
Read: https://t.co/woAkM139yk pic.twitter.com/U3CouL4vFH
– ecret Network ⚡️ (@SecretNetwork) June 23, 2023
According to the tweet, “Binance will not withdraw SCRT, along with six other privacy-focused cryptocurrencies, in European countries”. These are Decred, Verge, Navcoin, Zcash, Dash and PIVX. This information has also been confirmed by the Verge Currency team.
Clearly, Binance’s decision was taken in a bid to comply with local regulations, which aim to ban the use of cryptocurrencies that reinforce anonymity. The aim is to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
The announcement was made on the same day that MiCA regulations came into force in the European Union. In fact, we learned that the European Banking Authority was alerting players in the cryptocurrency industry about the monitoring of customers using anonymity-enhanced cryptocurrencies.
