Binance Will Start Converting Monero to USDC on September 2 as Part of Delisting

Following Binance’s February announcement that it would delist Monero (XMR) and its finalization later that month, the exchange has now announced its last steps to get the privacy coin off its platform.

In an August 12 blog post, Binance said it will convert the balances of 15 different tokens, including XMR, to USD Coin (USDC) on Sept. 2, 2024. The conversion will be complete and the USDC will be in users’ wallets by Mar. 1, 2025.

The announcement explains that the conversion rate for the assets will be based on their average exchange rate between Sept. 2, 2024 and Mar. 1, 2025.

The affected assets, other than Monero, are Bitcoin Gold (BTG), Bitcoin Standard Hashrate Token (BTCST), Bitshares (BTS), District0x (DNT), Groestlcoin (GRS), Hegic (HEGIC), MobileCoin (MOB), Monetha (MTH), Multichain (MULTI), Navcoin (NAV), Sologenic (SOLO), Spartan Protocol (SPARTA), Symbol (XYM), Tribe (TRIBE).

For what it’s worth, XMR seems unfazed by this last stage of the Binance delisting. At the time of writing, Monero is trading for $149.38 after having fallen 0.2% since this time yesterday, according to CoinGecko data.

But the delisting of a privacy coin, like Monero, by the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume does set a troubling precedent, said Web3Privacy Now core contributor Mykola Siusko.

“Binance is widening the gap between original decentralization ethos and regulated surveillance capitalism. Misleading millions of people what the web3 is about — permissionless and freedom,” he told Decrypt. “Basically, they are proving to be a part of surveillance apparatus.”

MobileCoin, like Monero, is a privacy-focused coin. It uses ring signatures to conceal transactions, which is similar to how Monero works. Binance users will be able to withdraw the assets from the exchange up to Sept. 1, 2024.

Binance did not answer a request for comment by press time from Decrypt.

Privacy coins are cryptocurrencies designed to enhance transaction anonymity beyond what standard cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin offer. They use various cryptographic techniques to obscure transaction details such as addresses and amounts, making it extremely difficult to trace or link transactions to specific individuals.

While advocates argue these coins protect user privacy and bring cash-like anonymity to digital transactions, critics point out their potential for illicit use in areas like ransomware payments and money laundering. Popular privacy coins include Monero, Zcash (ZEC), and Dash (DASH), each employing different methods to achieve anonymity.

However, these coins face regulatory scrutiny and potential bans in some jurisdictions, with some cryptocurrency exchanges delisting them due to compliance concerns. Despite these challenges, privacy coins continue to gain popularity among users seeking enhanced financial privacy in the digital realm.

Editor’s note: This story was updated to add a comment from Mykola Suisko.

Edited by Stacy Elliott.