, Zcash (ZEC) or Dash (DASH). Here's how to trade them.){kind=link}
In the past few months a growing list of exchanges have delisted privacy coins Monero (XMR), Zcash (ZEC) or Dash (DASH). In some cases all three. In February of 2020 the financial action task force FAFT, an intergovernmental organization to fight money laundering and terrorist funding, recommended that all virtual asset service providers (VASPs) transfer customer identification records along with the funds. That the receiving end should keep those records.
Privacy coins obfuscate sender and receiver identity as we covered here. As government regulators have begun to implement this recommendation, exchanges have delisted cryptocurrencies that make meeting the new requirements difficult.
FAFT’s recommendation is why the US Treasury has proposed exchanges collect KYC on all transfers to and from noncustodial wallets. We recently reported that Chainalysis concluded that these regulations would not stop money laundering.
It is important to point out that Dash is contesting the classification as a privacy coin. This is a quickly evolving story. Just in November 2020 even Abra’s CEO did not see delisting coins in its future.
“Bill Barhydt, the CEO of Abra — a peer-to-peer payments platform that supports over 70 cryptocurrencies including Dash — told Cointelegraph that Abra works closely with third-party custody partners. He mentioned that, to his knowledge, these partners have no plans to delist any cryptocurrencies that are widely used in the marketplace today.”
However, Abra recently sent this email to customers.
“Abra plans to suspend trading of Monero (XMR), Zcash (ZEC), and Dash (DASH) starting at 2 pm PST on Jan 15, 2021. Due to current regulatory uncertainty surrounding the status of XMR, ZEC, and DASH our custody partner will no longer be supporting these assets. Therefore, Abra has no choice but to suspend trading of these assets for the time being.
Customers must withdraw any assets before the posted withdrawal deadline of 2 pm PST on Jan 15, 2021. Failure to withdraw by this time would mean the customer may risk losing their assets.”
Other exchanges that have delisted one or more cryptocurrencies in recent months include Ubit, OKEX, ShapeShift, Coinbase, LiteBit, liquid, and Bittrex.
Some will see this as a buying opportunity while others are looking for an exit. Here are a few options that remain open at this time for trading Monero (XMR), Zcash (ZEC) or Dash (DASH).
Exchanges For Privacy Coins
With Binance’s convert option, you can convert Zcash, Dash and Monero with BTC, USDT, USDC, ETH and many other cryptocurrencies. At Binance, you can even buy crypto with credit/debit cards and trade into any privacy coin they support.
Bitcoin.com’s exchange gives you the ability to sign up and start trading without KYC. Sign-up just requires an email and password. The Bitcoin.com exchange has trading pairs for Monero, Zcash, Dash and the new anonymous coin ARRR.
Based in San Francisco, Kraken is among the largest exchanges in Euro to crypto volume. While they don’t accept debit and credit cards, they offer several options to get your US Dollars, Euros, Canadian Dollars, Yen or British Pounds deposited so you can purchase coins. They also will accept many cryptocurrencies to fund your account. Kraken offers crypto swap pairs for XMR, ZEC, and DASH in exchange for Bitcoin. They follow the ISO standard and list bitcoin as XBT. Euros or US Dollars can be exchanged for XMR, ZEC, or DASH.
Accountless Swap Exchanges
There are several accountless exchanges, or swap exchanges, still accepting trades involving delisted privacy coins. Accountless exchanges generally do not require registration or email. To convert, you select the currency and the amount you wish to convert and select your desired currency. Enter the address you want to receive the converted currency. The exchange then provides you an address to deposit the coins you wish to convert. It then sends your converted coins to the address you provide. The exchanges work best if you have your own noncustodial wallet. Need a wallet? Check out the best cryptocurrency wallets here.
Flyp.me is an option for readers outside of the United States. The terms of service state:
“…The Client also represents and warrants that he/she is neither a resident of the United States of America nor located in, under the control of, or a national or resident of any country to which the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg has embargoed goods or service…”
ZEC, DASH and XMR are all among the 30+ cryptocurrencies that Flyp.me converts. Flyp.me includes several stablecoin options USDC, USDT, and DAI. BTC and ETH are also options to use in your conversions.
Change Now is an account free, noncustodial, limitless exchange incorporated in the Seychelles. They support 170 coins for automatic conversion swaps. They have a telegram bot as well. Purchase with Visa or Mastercard can be made by providing an email. XMR, ZEC, and DASH are all available for conversion or purchase with fiat, along with many of the popular coins.
For suspicious transactions they will ask the user to provide know your customer (KYC) identification. The user can cancel or provide KYC. If canceled or the KYC fails, funds will be returned to the sending address minus network fees.
Evonax works similar to flyp.me, but with fewer cryptocurrencies. Evonax has been operating since 2016 is owned by Thyregod Invest ApS, a private holding company with an equity of $31 million. ZEC, XMR, and Dash are all included along with BTC, ETH, USDT and BCH.
Peer to Peer (P2P) Exchanges
P2P exchanges work by installing an app that connects you to a network of other people offering to buy or sell cryptocurrencies. They have no central server, each application is a direct part of the network.
Bisq is a decentralized P2P trading network for users to exchange bitcoin for other cryptocurrencies and fiat directly with other users. It requires the installation of their p2p program. You will need to monitor other exchanges for the current value of the coin you wish to trade, because all buy and sell offers are set by other users, exchange rates can vary. This might be an option if you can find no other options and are looking to exit a position in Monero, Zcash, or Dash. Their markets page still shows that all 3 are still able to be traded. As of January 2021 it shows Monero has active buy and sell offers. While ZEC and DASH do not have active buy and sell offers they do show trades having occurred during 2020.
Local Monero is a site dedicated to finding locals buying or selling Monero.
In the ever evolving world of cryptocurrency, do your own research. Always double check fees and rates before trading.
RECOMMENDED READING:
9 Best Cryptocurrencies For Privacy