[Analysis] Privacy coins face an existential threat amid regulatory pinch

Privacy coins are consistently intriguing to libertarians and frustrating to law enforcement, writes Bloomberg's Olga Kharif. Cryptocurrencies like Monero ($XMR), Zcash ($ZEC), and Dash ($DASH) are feeling the pinch of a step up in global regulatory efforts to combat these privacy protocols as some exchanges are finding it easier to delist the coins rather than figure out how to adhere to the additional risk management requirements. A couple exchanges are already delisting these assets, and Kharif reports that Jesse Spiro, the head of policy at Chainalysis, a blockchain analytics firm, anticipates more exchanges will drop support for these coins.

“It’s certainly seen as creating a huge hurdle to the existence of privacy coins,” said Spiro.