Monero and Dash have privacy-friendly features. Several governments promote actions against cryptocurrencies focused on privacy.
The ShapeShift exchange removed the ability to trade monero (XMR) and dash (DASH) on its platform. Both cryptocurrencies have features that can increase the privacy of their users when making transactions.
The company did not provide any explanation for the reasons that led to the withdrawal of these assets. “We chose to remove Monero months ago, but I cannot comment further on why at this time,” this was the only statement on the matter from ShapeShift CEO Erik Voorhees.
Even so, there is pressure from state regulatory bodies for exchanges not to offer cryptocurrencies that allow the anonymity of their transactions. In July of this year, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong exposed these pressures.
Regulatory pressure appears to be global; South Korea will ban Monero, Dash, and ZCash as “dark cryptocurrencies”. Also, the United States tax collector, against the privacy of Monero, seeks to adopt tools that facilitate the tracking of its transactions. Because of this; it signed contracts with the analysis companies Chainalysis and Integra FEC.
Why are Monero and Dash in the sights of regulators?
Monero is the privacy-focused cryptocurrency with the highest market capitalization ($ 2,076 million as of this writing). Through ring signatures, only one of the signatures on the blockchain is real, but there is no way to pinpoint which one it is or where it came from. So, when making a transaction, it keeps the anonymity except for the parties involved.
Since its launch in 2014, the product of a Bytecoin fork, Monero sustained an increase in its transactions over time. Last November 6 was the day with the most transactions in the history of this blockchain. It registered a figure of at least 21,287 XMR movements, representing an increase of 227% since January of this year.
Dash, although initially intended and promoted as a privacy-focused coin, currently provides this feature as optional. The process that allows anonymity is known as PrivateSend. When making a transaction, the wallet sends a merge request to the master nodes. There, only the quantity and denominations (0.01 dash; 0.1 dash; 1 dash; or 10 dash) to be mixed are under specification. It does not reveal any other details.
Both cryptocurrencies are compatible with the values that ShapeShift showed in its beginnings. For example, in 2015 it stopped offering services in New York State with the mission to not provide user data, and two years later it did the same in Washington for similar reasons. Still, it could not help but give in to pressure from regulators and in 2018 decided to adopt KYC (“know your customer”) policies.
ShapeShift, which allows instant conversion between dozens of cryptocurrencies, is built into some wallets, such as Coinomi. Users of these applications can exchange their assets without leaving the wallet thanks to this integration.
By: Jenson Nuñez.
