Privacy advocates scored a major victory in June when Binance announced that it had backtracking of removal decisions privacy coins for users in a number of European countries.
As a result of this move, users in Italy, Poland, Spain and France will continue to be able to trade tokens including Zcash (ZEC), Monero (XMR), Decred (DCR), Horizen’s ZEN, Verge (XVG), Dash (DASH), Secret (SCRT), Firo, Navcoin (NAV), MobileCoin (MOB), Beam and PIVX.
A coin ban would be great, big error. Privacy coins empower individuals from financial surveillance by offering increased transaction security, and the crypto community should be grateful that Binance no longer plans to delist them. In the modern climate of over-surveillance and overall lack of confidentiality for users worldwide, their importance cannot be overstated.
Related: Binance was wrong to boot Monero, Zcash and other private coins
The fungibility of these coins, making each individual unit fungible and resistant to censorship, is their advantage over almost every other cryptocurrency, and the loss of these additional layers of security and anonymity would be an incredible loss to the community.
Private coins have gained ground in recent years thanks to a series of strict regulations. Binance’s decision actually comes on the heels of the European Union ironing out its much-debated standards for digital assets, a recent Markets in Cryptographic Assets (MiCA) Regulations.. It will also launch the European Securities and Markets Authority when this law is signed in July The MiCA consultation process. It is fair to say that there is some movement in this space and we may not have seen the last of what Europe has in store for the crypto industry.
But the truth is that privacy is a basic human right protected by the United Nations. Article 12 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “no one shall be subjected to arbitrary intrusions into his privacy” and that “everyone has the right to lawful protection against such intrusions or attacks”, so why should this be the case with cryptocurrencies?
This concept is even more important in the digital age as the risks of data misuse grow exponentially and tech giants have all the tools at their disposal to try to prevent people from gaining control over their private information.
In fact, Binance’s decision reflects the complex balance between regulatory compliance and user privacy needs that exchanges must constantly strive for, even when faced with international regulations that differ from country to country, and even when some countries decide to enforce stricter rules. rules than others.
Related: SEC charges against Binance and Coinbase are dire for DeFi
As for the future implications of the Binance decision – but also those arising from the intense regulatory pressure looming over Europe – we could see a potential increase in demand and consequently the development of the private coin sector. Ironically, the precedent set by Binance could very well lead to more widespread adoption of privacy coins, as it could prompt other exchanges to rethink their stance on privacy coins, which could lead to wider availability. We’ll see.
At the end of the day, this week’s news highlights the true power of community sentiment when it comes to shaping crypto policies and regulations. “We’ve adjusted how we classify privacy coins,” read an official statement released by the cryptocurrency exchange, “after careful consideration of feedback from our community.” Reading between the lines, it’s clear that the backlash they’ve seen over the past month he worked
It’s hard to overstate how essential privacy really is in the crypto industry, which is why we can’t back down when it comes to fighting for it every chance we get.
The bottom line is that the community’s influence on Binance’s decisions demonstrates its power to shape the future of the crypto industry – and we’d do well not to forget that.
The crypto community should come together to continue the fight for privacy. It forms the very foundation of Web3. And as the Romans said, ibi semper est victoria ubi est concordia: Where there is unity there is always victory.
Daniele Servadei is the co-founder and CEO of Sellix, an e-commerce platform based in Italy.
This article is for general informational purposes and is not intended and should not be construed as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.