As
of
May
14,
all
trades
on
LocalMonero
have
been
disabled.
And
in
six
months
the
entire
website
will
be
taken
down,
parent
company
AgoraDesk,
which
is
also
winding
down,
said
in
a
statement.
“After
almost
seven
years
of
operation,
due
to
a
combination
of
internal
and
external
factors,
we
have
made
the
difficult
decision
to
close
our
platform.
“We’re
extremely
thankful
for
the
love
and
support
we’ve
received
over
the
years.
We
couldn’t
have
done
it
without
you.
We
love
you
all,”
the
statement
read.
This
is
an
excerpt
from
The
Node
newsletter,
a
daily
roundup
of
the
most
pivotal
crypto
news
on
CoinDesk
and
beyond.
You
can
subscribe
to
get
the
full
newsletter
here.
As
mentioned
in
the
announcement,
the
peer-to-peer
exchange
created
to
trade
the
eponymous
privacy
coin
monero
(XMR),
LocalMonero
has
been
around
for
most
of
Monero’s
existence.
Although
AgoraDesk
did
not
provide
a
specific
reason
for
shutting
down,
it’s
easy
enough
to
intuit
why.
In
recent
months,
a
slew
of
P2P
crypto
trading
platforms
including
LocalBitcoins
and
Paxful
have
called
it
quits
–
a
trend
largely
driven
by
regulatory
headwinds.
To
wit:
“Regulatory
challenges
for
the
industry
continue
to
grow,
especially
in
the
paper-to-peer
market
and
most
heavily
in
the
U.S.
While
we
work
through
these
issues,we
have
taken
the
most
secure
option
and
ask
you
to
explore
self-custody
and
trade
elsewhere,”
Ray
Youssef,
ex-CEO
of
Paxful,
said
in
a
statement
at
the
time
the
now
defunct
platform
closed.
Problems
for
LocalMonero
were
largely
compounded
by
pressure
from
regulatory
authorities
on
privacy
coins.
Crypto
exchanges
OKX,
Binance
and
Coinbase
have
all
proactively
delisted
privacy-preserving
tokens
like
monero
and
zcash
(ZEC),
leaving
services
like
LocalMonero
one
of
the
few
places
to
purchase
XMR.
LocalMonero
functioned
a
bit
like
Craigslist,
providing
a
place
where
individuals
could
post
an
ad
to
either
buy
or
sell
XMR
via
a
variety
of
different
methods
–
essentially
any
payment
method
the
counterparties
agreed
upon
would
work.
One
ad
was
for
someone
looking
to
trade
cash
for
monero
in
person
listed
Detroit
Zoo
as
a
meeting
point.
There
was
generally
a
slight
markup
on
LocalMonero
token
sales
because
users
were
willing
to
pay
a
premium
to
buy
the
token
on
a
platform
that
asked
for
limited
identification
(though
it
was
customary
for
sellers
to
request
ID
as
a
kind
of
failsafe.)
The
platform
also
offered
“arbitration
bonds”
that
would
hold
an
equivalent
amount
of
monero
in
escrow
so
that
if
a
seller
failed
to
send
the
funds,
LocalMonero
could
reimburse
users.
Where
to
buy
monero
now?
LocalMonero
has
been
“a
cornerstone
of
the
no-KYC
Monero
ecosystem,”
semi-pseudonymous
privacy
advocate
Seth
For
Privacy
said
on
X,
adding
that
with
its
closure
monero
users
are
left
with
few
fiat-to-crypto
rails
for
the
token.
It
is
an
“incredibly
sad
day,”
he
said.
On
Reddit
and
the
LocalMonero
forum,
users
discussed
alternative
means
of
buying
XMR,
which,
with
a
$2.5
billion
market
cap,
is
the
largest
privacy
coin.
These
include
buying
another
cryptocurrency
like
bitcoin
(BTC)
or
litecoin
(LTC),
sending
it
to
the
privacy-focused
Cake
Wallet
and
then
swapping
for
XMR.
The
Bisq
peer-to-peer
network
also
enables
swaps
between
cryptocurrencies
into
monero.
Kraken
also
still
offers
monero
purchases,
though
it
excludes
users
from
certain
countries
including
the
U.K.
and
Australia
and
will
extend
that
list
to
Ireland
and
Belgium
in
June.
Less
secure
buying
options
include
purchasing
directly
from
someone
on
messaging
apps
like
Telegram.
For
its
part,
LocalMonero
recommended
the
non-custodial,
decentralized
exchanges
Haveno
Serai,
which
are
open-source
alternatives
that
have
yet
to
fully
launch.
Haveno
runs
on
the
Tor
network
and
functions
using
atomic
swaps,
while
Serai
will
use
a
multisignature
setup.
While
the
old
adage
that
“if
there’s
a
will,
there’s
way”
will
likely
always
remain
true
for
those
looking
to
make
anonymous
transactions
is
cryptocurrencies
like
monero,
it
is
undoubtedly
the
case
that
blockchain-based
privacy
tech
is
becoming
harder
to
access.
And
it’s
hard
to
see
this
trend
reversing.
But,
every
day
the
Monero
network
is
maintained,
and
every
day
that
XMR
is
used
for
purchases,
is
another
day
that
proves
the
power
and
resiliency
of
decentralized
systems.
“Feds
really
must
hate
monero.
Guess
it’s
a
proof
to
keep
using
it,”
as
one
Reddit
user
said.
Note:
The
views
expressed
in
this
column
are
those
of
the
author
and
do
not
necessarily
reflect
those
of
CoinDesk,
Inc.
or
its
owners
and
affiliates.
