Kraken has announced that it will delist Monero (XMR) for clients in the European Economic Area (EEA) due to recent regulatory changes. The U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange will halt all trading and deposits for XMR markets, including XMR/USD and XMR/EUR, effective October 31 at 15:00 PM UTC. All open orders will automatically close at this time.
Additionally, Kraken has set December 31 as the final date for XMR withdrawals. Any XMR balances remaining after this date will be converted to Bitcoin (BTC) at market rates, with distributions to be completed by January 6, 2025.
This decision reflects growing regulatory scrutiny of privacy coins like Monero, which are designed to enhance transaction anonymity. Kraken stated that this move was not taken lightly, reaffirming its commitment to supporting a wide range of digital assets while adhering to regulatory compliance. In June, the exchange had already stopped supporting XMR for customers in Belgium and Ireland.
This delisting trend is not isolated, as major exchanges like Binance and OKX are also moving away from privacy coins amid heightened scrutiny. The upcoming MiCA legislation, set to take effect in December, along with new anti-money laundering regulations, is compelling crypto service providers to discontinue support for privacy-focused assets. As noted by Circle’s EU strategy and policy director Patrick Hansen, these new AML regulations will restrict crypto-asset service providers from offering privacy coins and prevent users from making merchant payments with tokens like XMR.