Kraken is set to close XMR trading and deposits for European customers on October 31st. Trading pairs XMR/USD, XMR/EUR, XMR/BTC and XMR/USDT will not be available on the exchange. All open orders in XMR will be automatically closed upon the deadline.
Kraken urged users from Europe to withdraw assets into XMR before December 31st. After this date, all remaining XMR balances will be automatically converted to BTC at the prevailing market rate. The exchange plans to distribute converted bitcoins to affected users by January 6, 2025.
“We regularly review crypto assets listed for trading on the platform to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. After carefully reviewing the situation, we have no choice but to close XMR trading to European users. This decision was not easy for us,” Kraken announced.
The exchange’s actions are related to the imminent final entry into force of the EU Cryptocurrency Regulation Act (MiCA). MiCA prohibits virtual asset service providers from offering privacy coins like XMR and preventing users from transacting with them. Therefore, crypto services operating in the Eurozone are forced to reconsider their support for privacy-oriented coins.
In April, Kraken announced the removal of XMR trading pairs in Ireland and Belgium. Last year, the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance, also delisted the crypto asset in Belgium, which provoked a drop in the coin’s value.
Source: Bits
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