LocalMonero, one of the largest centralized peer-to-peer platforms for XMR trading, is shutting down its services amid the global crackdown on privacy-focused tokens.
The central peer-to-peer marketplace for trading Monero (XMR), LocalMonero, is shutting down its services, citing “internal and external factors” as the reason behind the move.
in Blog post On May 7, the platform said that users can place trades until May 14, after which new trades will be disabled. Furthermore, the platform has suspended new registrations, while withdrawals will remain open until November 7. LocalMonero also warned that after the deadline, unclaimed funds “may be considered abandoned/confiscated.”
“After nearly 7 years of operation, and due to a combination of internal and external factors, we have made the difficult decision to close our platform.”
LocalMonero
Crypto.news reached out to LocalMonero for comment but had not received any response at press time.
Founded in 2017, this platform allows users to buy and sell XMR directly with each other, without the need for a central intermediary. The closure comes amid a global crackdown targeting privacy-focused cryptocurrencies such as Monero and Zcash (ZEC).
In December 2023, OKX, a cryptocurrency exchange, announced the delisting of XMR and other anonymous cryptocurrencies, citing failure to meet its “strict standards.” Later, Binance, another cryptocurrency exchange, also removed XMR from its trading pairs, resulting in a significant decline in the value of the token. Additionally, Kraken, a US cryptocurrency exchange, removed Monero in Belgium and Ireland due to European anti-money laundering regulations.
The widespread removal of XMR from centralized exchanges has already impacted the token's trading volumes. According to data from Kaiko, a blockchain analytics company, market liquidity for privacy tokens has reached record levels as cryptocurrency exchanges continue to remove these assets from their listings in an attempt to comply with local rules.