The cryptocurrency market remains unregulated by the most part in most of the planet, so we haven’t seen politics exert any influence over it very often. That could be changing.
BitOasis
BitOasis is a cryptocurrency exchange and trade platform based in Dubai. It also offers mobile wallet services. The company aims to be global, but, for now, it works mainly for clients in the Middle East and Northern Africa. It was founded in 2015. It only received a preliminary license from the UAE’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority some twelve days ago.
And now, the platform is letting its customers know that starting next May 31st the cryptocurrencies known as ZEC (Zcash) and XMR (Monero) will be delisted. These two digital assets belong to the few blockchain projects in which privacy in every transaction is a paramount value. While transfers over these blockchains are entirely reliable and secure, they can’t be traced from the source to the target in any way, even by examining the blockchain directly.
The world’s governments are quite hostile to blockchains that privilege the users’ privacy. A few weeks ago, there was a proposal in France to ban those same two cryptocurrencies (among others) precisely because they create a blind spot for the government. The rationale behind the proposed ban is that such a high degree of privacy facilitates funding criminal and terrorist activities. Which could be true, of course, but nobody mentions that it also makes government control impossible, which is probably the most critical issue for governments.
Is BitOasis delisting those two coins to facilitate getting a full license from the government? It’s impossible to know. Everything goes in Dubai, after all, but there’s no way to find out for the time being.
The platform provides no explanations to customers at all. On the contrary, it asks of them to answer a set of very intrusive questions such as the origin of their ZEC or XMR assets, the purpose for which they own them, the purpose of withdrawing them from the platform (if there were withdrawals) and if they’ve bought any for third parties. So the platform is not only against private coins but also against respecting its users’ privacy by asking them to answer questions which are none of its business.
We don’t know the reason behind BitOasis’ move, because the platform has said nothing on the subject except that both tokens will be delisted. But given the features shared by both coins, it’s rather clear that the platform is getting rid of them because some of the world’s governments are not very happy about them.
Additionally, if you own some of either currency and you have it stored in this platform, you won’t be able to withdraw them as such. You’ll have to trade them for BTC or AED (the local country’s fiat).
BitOasis’ decision is sad because it’s a hit against privacy and freedom in the crypto verse. And what will happen when other projects like Tron or Bitcoin come up with enhanced privacy features, as they’re scheduled to do? Is there any point in having an exchange platform in which Bitcoin is also banned?
Unfortunately, it’s very likely that we will keep seeing exchange platforms running away from assets considered too disruptive by governments. Even if regulations don’t call for that.
Disclaimer: The presented information is subjected to market condition and may include the very own opinion of the author. Please do your ‘very own’ market research before making any investment in cryptocurrencies. Neither the writer nor the publication (TronWeekly.com) holds any responsibility for your financial loss.