LocalMonero Exchange Shuts Down Its Services Amid Crypto Privacy Crackdown
The platform in question called LocalMonero has shut down services after serving the XMR community for 7 years. This exchange operated as a peer-to-peer (P2P) platform for the privacy coin investors and recently announced that it is shutting down the forum effective immediately.
The news has arrived amidst the wave of closures and shutdowns in the cryptocurrency sector. LocalMonero announced on 7th May that the platform was halting all new signups and advertisement contracts with instance effect.
The forum disabled trading of the privacy-focused cryptocurrency. In a notification sent to the investors, the firm cited issues comprising internal and external factors.
The main reason for the shutdown was increasing hostility towards the privacy-centric products and services. The platform also confirmed that intends to take down the official site formally on 7th November, 2024.
On this front, the users on the platform were advised to reclaim funds out of their wallets before the closure date. The retaining funds after the deadline will be considered abandoned.
Issues with Monero Trading Contracts
The P2P trading platform of Monero was launched in 2017 and continued to operate as a placeholder for LocalBitcoins. The administrators of the platform acknowledged that Monero has continued to grow and evolve over the years.
The administration further stated that the launch of decentralized exchange platforms such as Haveno and Serai led to the launch of a privacy update known as Full-Chain Membership Proofs (FCMPs).
This new feature and upgrade gave XMR the confidence that the future was secure with or without the platform. However, the news about the shutdown of the platform is viewed among investors as another pushback for privacy-prone coins and protocols.
It is seen as another chain after Kraken terminated support for Monero for their consumers based in Ireland and Belgium during April.
At the same time, the regulators in the United States are also pursuing legal action against Tornado Cash, a privacy trading platform popular among cryptocurrency investors. A privacy crypto advocacy influencer known as Seth for Privacy noted that it was a sad day on a 7th May post. He noted that LocalMonero has retained its position as a major no-KYC trading platform.
Crackdown Against Privacy-Focused Cryptocurrencies
As per Seth for Privacy noted the crypto sector is at war against regulatory interference and anti-privacy efforts. A number of privacy prone cryptocurrencies and services have come under fire from regulators on an international scale.
In April, co-founders of Samourai Wallet were arrested on money-laundering charges. In the same manner, some other privacy services such as Wasabi Coinjoin and Trezor Coinjoin faced founders opting out of the platforms.
Meanwhile, an Ethereum-based privacy project called Railgun head Alan Scott spoke with Cointelegraph recently. He noted that intelligence agencies are usually not anti-privacy as the protocols as believed. The concern of federal agencies is obstacles in catching any potential bad actors. He was speaking about national security agencies such as Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Blockchain Integrity Act
Another Cointelegraph article shared news about the introduction of an anti-crypto bill presented House. The bill in question has proposed a fine of up to $100,000 for handling funds processed from a cryptocurrency mixer and imposing a two-year ban on privacy platforms.
The bill has been titled the Blockchain Integrity Act and it is sponsored by Democratic representative Sean Casten.
Casten mentioned that mixers are pools that allow investors to generate new addresses and withdraw funds without showing the transaction address. The bill in question has also prohibited financial institutions such as crypto exchanges and virtual asset services providers that have accepted funds from a mixer or allowed direct transactions from it. Each instance of violation of it to be penalized with a fine of up to $100,000.
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