A peer-to-peer (P2P) trading platform for privacy coin Monero has shuttered its services effective immediately, adding to the recent wave of crypto privacy closures and arrests.
On May 7, LocalMonero announced that, effective immediately, all new signups and advertisement postings for Monero trades are disabled. On May 14, the platform will disable the trading of the privacy-focused crypto asset.
The move is seen by some as yet another blow to privacy coins and protocols following Kraken’s termination of support for Monero for its customers based in Ireland and Belgium in April, as well as the recent legal action against Tornado Cash.
Privacy Advocate “Seth For Privacy” said it was an “incredibly sad day” in a post on X on May 7. He added that LocalMonero has been “a cornerstone of the no-KYC Monero ecosystem,” and there is no direct fiat to XMR alternative today.
Privacy coins and services have been targeted in recent months by global finance regulators. In April, the co-founders of crypto mixer Samourai Wallet were arrested on charges of money laundering.
Other privacy services, such as Wasabi CoinJoin and Trezor Coinjoin, were also recently shuttered by their founders as the privacy crackdown intensified.
“Their concern is the potential problems around impeding their ability to catch bad actors,” he said at the time, referring to agencies such as the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation.
