Binance Prohibits Trading of Privacy Coins in France: Reports

Regulatory concerns in France have forced Binance to disable the trading of crypto privacy coins. Users from France, Poland, and Spain have reported receiving announcements through email.

A community-run news aggregator, “Tree News,” reported on Twitter that Binance has disabled trading of crypto privacy coins for French residents. It wrote:

Binance disables trading of Privacy Coins for French residents, citing local regulatory requirements, as per an email currently being sent to users. Tokens in question: DCR, DASH, ZEC, ZEN, PIVX, NAV, SCRT, XVG, FIRO, BEAM, XMR, MOB.

As of writing, there has not been much impact on the price of the tokens mentioned.

Privacy coins have often received the cold shoulder from regulators because they do not allow viewing transaction details and wallet balances.

While privacy coins protect users from surveillance, their anonymity also attracts nefarious actors. Critics argue that these cryptocurrencies enable money laundering, terrorism financing, and other illegal activities.

For instance, in January 2021, the darknet marketplace White House Market exclusively accepted Monero as payment, citing privacy concerns with Bitcoin.

These instances raise concerns for regulators and governments struggling to monitor and control illicit transactions.

EU-Wide Issue for Privacy Coins?

Certainly, Binance has to cooperate with French regulators as the exchange envisions Paris as a European base. Last year, the exchange acquired a Digital Assets Service Provider (DASP) license in France.

But, some users believe that it is a European Union-wide issue. Community members from Poland and Spain have also reported receiving similar emails from Binance.

In January, Changpeng Zhao’s company received approval from Poland’s authority and became fully compliant with local regulatory standards.

And in July last year, Binance’s subsidiary registered itself as a Virtual Assets Service Provider in Spain.

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