The team behind the P2P exchange LocalMonero has decided to shut down the platform after nearly seven years of operation.
Hey everyone,
After almost 7 years of operation, we have made the difficult decision to close our platform.
The winding-down process begins today, and finishes 6 months from now. Our support will be available for help throughout this period.
Read more:https://t.co/66gqe5HFpc
— LocalMonero (@LocalMoneroCo) May 7, 2024
LocalMonero cited a “combination of internal and external factors.”
The platform has been operational since August 2017, facilitating peer-to-peer transactions with the privacy-focused coin Monero (XMR).
The winding-down process at LocalMonero began with the cessation of new registrations and the posting of advertisements. A week later, on May 14, trading will be halted.
The platform’s website will cease operations in six months, on November 7. The team strongly advises users to withdraw their funds by this date, as they will be considered abandoned thereafter.
Throughout this period, support staff will continue to provide assistance, assured LocalMonero.
In recent years, several trading platforms have delisted Monero. In 2024, the largest centralized exchange, Binance, took this step. Kraken announced the termination of support for the coin for users in Ireland and Belgium.
In 2022, the largest cryptocurrency mining pool, MineXMR, announced its closure.
However, the LocalMonero team noted that “the Monero ecosystem has matured significantly” and it faces “a bright future, with or without the platform.”
The cryptocurrency’s price has slightly decreased by 0.7% over the past day (CoinGecko). Over the past week, prices have risen by nearly 7%. Monero is trading at around $129, with a market capitalization of $2.34 billion.
Back in September 2023, an unknown party withdrew the entire balance of 2675.73 XMR from the Monero community’s crowdfunding wallet.