Topic: Monero terminated in Italy, along with other privacy coins (Read 289 times)

I've heard about upcoming updates being discussed that merge the Bitcoin network with the mimblewimble protocol, but this is not supposed to be done officially since both protocols are open source and any developer team can work on them.

It is likely that if the update succeeds with Litecoin, the discussion about merging it with Bitcoin will become more serious. Of course, this is supposed to be expected during an appropriate time that may extend to several years. In the end, all hypotheses are possible and nothing is certain just as nothing is impossible.

Litecoin is a fork of Bitcoin, so they are sharing a similar codebase. But that does not mean or imply any Bitcoin improvements are only or directly tested on Litecoin. Bitcoin developments do have a rigorous process and their own testing process.

In regard to MimbleWimble, as far as I know, there is not any plan that Bitcoin will implement the system. We can see on the bitcoin improvement proposal repository: https://github.com/search?q=repo%3Abitcoin%2Fbips%20mimblewimble&type=code, that MW implementation does not exist.

The Bitcoin communities do already talking and discussing the MW implementation on Bitcoin but until today, we seem to haven't reached any conclusion on that developments.

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This appeared when the launch of the Segwit update was studied in the Bitcoin network in 2015, so that the update would be launched on the Litecoin network in what looked like a trial phase, and after its success, it was activated in 2017 on the Bitcoin network.

The same thing happened before the launch of the Lightning Network, as it was tested on the Litecoin network before being activated on the Bitcoin network.

Now we are dealing with the MimbleWimble update which is also scheduled to include the Bitcoin network and here is Litecoin supporting it on his network. I think it's a trial period, as usual, before it includes the Bitcoin blockchain.

I believe the decision that Litecoin trying to make is beneficial for its own ecosystem. There are some user who defies their decision due to an opt-in implementation of a privacy mechanism is meaningless, but looking at the bigger picture, Litecoin still be able to be listed on popular exchanges.

My take regarding the implementation is that the community playing on the safe side, they make it opt-in so centralized bodies like exchanges are still able to "control" it, and on the other hand, those who seek privacy are able to utilize the MimbleWimble transaction. It is a win-win solution.

They trying at their best to imitate any usage of transactions with a strong privacy technologies.

Thanks for these important clarifications regarding Litecoin. I am sure that the questions have crossed the minds of many, and I am almost certain that no one has seen that explanatory article from Binance after the MumbleWimble update. According to the article, it is not possible to make withdrawals or deposits using the new update because the addresses used cannot be verified. This confirms the general trend of the platform to abandon all privacy coins.

That is because Litecoin MibleWimble implementation is opt-in, it is completely different from say like Monero or any other cryptocurrency where the implementation of the privacy mechanism is by-default.

Binance has known that blocks Litecoin's MimbleWimble transactions, take a look at https://www.binance.com/en/support/announcement/notice-on-deposits-and-withdrawals-of-litecoin-ltc-utilizing-mimblewimble-extension-blocks-mweb-61d4510b1ada4ba78b5384e8c2d3527c.

It is pretty clear the only reason they still list Litecoin is because of the nature of the privacy features implementations. Certainly, as a centralized body, they won't take a single bet to accept a strict and strong cryptocurrency that contains privacy features for any usage. They trying at their best to imitate any usage of transactions with a strong privacy technologies.

Any LTC deposits made to Binance through the MWEB function will not be received or returned as we are unable to verify the sender's address, resulting in the direct loss of funds. To ensure security of your funds, please do not deposit LTC through the MWEB function.

It was supposed to be followed by all the countries. I remember after the 2018 significant altcoin season, there were countries popping up which was talking more against privacy coins. Well, it's not really possible to regulate privacy coins because of the nature of the txs. Maybe privacy coins will have an end due to regulation. It's going to be followed everywhere and I doubt with such regulation, people would simply use privacy coins to hide their financial activity.

What caught my attention in the list of currencies is that there are no other currencies among them that have a high degree of privacy, such as the Grin currency, which was developed according to the famous mimblewimble protocol, like which we find the BEAM currency that uses the same protocol, but the BEAM currency has been canceled while Grin is still listed . Even the Litecoin currency, it had announced its merger with the mimblewimble protocol in order to become completely secure and maintain privacy, despite this, Litecoin is still listed on Binance.

I received this email notification from Binance, it appears that privacy currencies are being terminated throughout Italy. Translated from Italian

This is expected. This has been the talk of the town for years. Monero must have already caught the attention of the authorities ever since the Silk Road days. That was a long time ago. Years later, the IRS itself also offered more than half a million dollars as bounty to whoever cracks Monero. That was a desperate move and a humiliating admission that even the most powerful agencies could be helpless in dealing with privacy coins.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Monero will have to be banned. It was just a matter of time. More countries will certainly follow.

But no big deal. After all, Monero isn't really tailored for the likes of Binance and other centralized exchanges that are all too willing to lick dirty asses for money. It has its own unique functions. It is to privacy coins as Bitcoin is to cryptocurrencies.

~snip~

Sure, it's impossible to stop the use of coins like the ones mentioned in OP's announcement, if you eliminate the markets for those coins one by one until they're all gone, who's really going to use them?  As a practical matter, none of those privacy coins are used to buy anything (except maybe on the dark market, but I doubt even there) so with no way to even trade them, I seriously doubt people would want to own them--with perhaps XMR being the exception.  Their community seems pretty hardcore.

This is just Binance, thankfully, even though they're one of the biggest exchanges worldwide.  It's still unfortunate that eliminating cryptocurrencies that offer more privacy than bitcoin seems to be the trend among exchanges.  I did notice that Kucoin no longer lists PIVX, though I'm not sure about any of the others.

Sure, it's impossible to stop the use of coins like the ones mentioned in OP's announcement, if you eliminate the markets for those coins one by one until they're all gone, who's really going to use them?  As a practical matter, none of those privacy coins are used to buy anything (except maybe on the dark market, but I doubt even there) so with no way to even trade them, I seriously doubt people would want to own them--with perhaps XMR being the exception.  Their community seems pretty hardcore.

This is just Binance, thankfully, even though they're one of the biggest exchanges worldwide.  It's still unfortunate that eliminating cryptocurrencies that offer more privacy than bitcoin seems to be the trend among exchanges.  I did notice that Kucoin no longer lists PIVX, though I'm not sure about any of the others.

-snip-
This is just Binance, thankfully, even though they're one of the biggest exchanges worldwide. 

As a practical matter, none of those privacy coins are used to buy anything (except maybe on the dark market, but I doubt even there) so with no way to even trade them, I seriously doubt people would want to own them--with perhaps XMR being the exception.  Their community seems pretty hardcore.

I did notice that Kucoin no longer lists PIVX, though I'm not sure about any of the others.

Well, it's not really possible to regulate privacy coins because of the nature of the txs.

It was supposed to be followed by all the countries. I remember after the 2018 significant altcoin season, there were countries popping up which was talking more against privacy coins. Well, it's not really possible to regulate privacy coins because of the nature of the txs. Maybe privacy coins will have an end due to regulation. It's going to be followed everywhere and I doubt with such regulation, people would simply use privacy coins to hide their financial activity.

Dear Binancian,

We are sending you this email to formally inform you that, due to local regulatory requirements, Binance is unable to offer privacy coins that do not allow transaction monitoring in Italy. Starting from June 26, 2023, Binance users residing in Italy will no longer be able to purchase or trade the following privacy coins on our platform:

DCR, DASH, ZEC, ZEN, PIVX, NAV, SCRT, XVG, FIRO, BEAM, XMR, MOB

Please note the following timing for the above-mentioned privacy coins:

On 06-26-2023:

All spot trading operations and deposits related to the aforementioned privacy coins will be blocked. All open Spot orders will be automatically closed. Cryptocurrency withdrawals for privacy coins will remain available.
Conversion and Earn operations will be limited to decrease-only mode. Decrease-only mode allows you to sell or close positions, but limits buying and opening new positions for the aforementioned privacy coins.

On 09-26-2023: All Loan positions will be automatically closed.

On 09-29-2023: All Flexible EARN positions will be closed.

On 10-26-2023: Selling via Convert will be blocked. Cryptocurrency withdrawals for privacy coins remain available.

We continue to commit ourselves to the long-term development of our ecosystem and we will continue to invest in the development of the blockchain and digital asset industry. We take this opportunity to thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Team Binance