Privacy-focused cryptocurrency Monero (XMR) has surged to over $212.41 early today, setting the highest price since May 2022.
At the time of writing, the price of XMR has slightly decreased from the local high and is fluctuating around $203.36, up nearly 20% in a day and 28% in a week.
XMR 4-hour price chart | Source: Tradingview
The rise of XMR comes as the anonymous coin sector in general has heated up this week, with the entire portfolio increasing by more than 12% in just the past 24 hours.
The leading names in weekly gains include Haven (up 294%), Verge (up 180%), Zcash (up 27%), and Decred (up 32%).
What is an anonymous coin?
Anonymous coins use various cryptographic techniques to obscure transaction information from public view, including ring signatures, one-time addresses, and zk-SNARK (Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge).
Supporters of anonymous coins argue that they provide a level of privacy equivalent to physical cash, and the radical transparency of most blockchains is not suitable for cryptocurrency transactions. This is because identities can be linked to wallet addresses, revealing their entire financial history.
However, anonymous coins are also under close scrutiny from many governments and law enforcement agencies. They claim that the ability to protect transactions makes them a magnet for crime. Accordingly, many efforts have been made to breach the privacy of Monero. But so far, there have been no signs of success.
The prices of anonymous coins have recently increased after privacy advocates of cryptocurrency achieved notable victories in court. The U.S. federal court ruled that the U.S. Treasury Department exceeded its authority when sanctioning the mixing service Tornado Cash.
This decision reversed the ruling of the lower court, stating that immutable smart contracts like the ones used by Tornado Cash could not be classified as property 'because they have no ownership ability.'
Although Tornado Cash is a mixing service rather than an anonymous coin in the strict sense, the platform's TORN token surged from around $3.6 in November to its current price of about $17 and at one point reached $33.64 in a short time.
The tightening regulation on anonymous coins like XMR has led to this cryptocurrency being delisted from many exchanges, including Binance and Kraken. In June 2020, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated that although he personally wanted to list XMR on the exchange, 'backstage conversations' with regulators convinced Coinbase to postpone it.
