{"id":111009,"date":"2020-11-12T13:44:06","date_gmt":"2020-11-12T10:44:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/dash-objects-to-shapeshift-culling-of-privacy-coins\/"},"modified":"2020-11-12T13:44:06","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T10:44:06","slug":"dash-objects-to-shapeshift-culling-of-privacy-coins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/dash-objects-to-shapeshift-culling-of-privacy-coins\/","title":{"rendered":"# Dash objects to ShapeShift culling of privacy coins"},"content":{"rendered":"

“# Dash objects to ShapeShift culling of privacy coins <\/strong>”
\n<\/p>\n

Cryptocurrency exchange ShapeShift\u00a0recently delisted three privacy coins: Dash, Zcash (ZEC) and Monero (XMR). This was an unexpected move to say the least, given the exchange\u2019s historic commitment to privacy.<\/p>\n

As a noncustodial platform, Shapeshift did not impose user identification requirements on traders in its early days, although this began to change\u00a0with the gradual introduction of a mandatory membership model, compliant with Know Your Customer rules, as of 2018.<\/p>\n

Why then, did it move to delist Dash, Zcash and Monero, even as other exchanges such as Coinbase, Kraken and Binance.US still list these coins? In a statement shared with Cointelegraph, the chief financial officer of Dash Core Group, Glenn Austin, said he found the delisting \u201cparticularly frustrating because [it] could have been entirely avoided by a simple 10\u201315 minute call.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Austin believes the delisting boils down to \u201can educational issue.\u201d While the reasons for the delisting have not been officially clarified, Austin has speculated that the move may be influenced by the currency having been mentioned twice in the Department of Justice\u2019s recently published \u201cCryptocurrency Enforcement Framework.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In both cases, Dash was cited alongside Monero and Zcash as an example of an anonymity-enhanced cryptocurrency. The DoJ identified the use of such currencies as a \u201chigh-risk activity indicative of possible criminal conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dash\u2019s argument is that its currency is not truly a privacy coin. The group cites major law firm Perkins Coie\u2019s assessment<\/a> in September 2019 that \u201cthe widespread perception that Dash is a \u2018privacy-coin\u2019 is likely a legacy of its former \u2018Darkcoin\u2019 moniker and does not accurately reflect its actual functionality.\u201d Perkins Coie has argued that Dash has the same functionality in this regard as Bitcoin (BTC). Austin explained:<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are various privacy-enhancing techniques that can be implemented on top of any public blockchain including features like off chain-transactions, shielding addresses or amounts, Mimblewimble, tumbling\/mixers, and Coinjoin. CoinJoin is the only privacy feature that currently exists in Dash wallets. Bitcoin also has many wallets that support CoinJoin.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Chainalysis, a leading blockchain analytics firm, agrees that from a technical standpoint, privacy coin is \u201ca misnomer for Dash.\u201d The firm, which offers investigation and compliance support for the Dash Core Group, has emphasized that “independent wallet software provides more advanced forms of CoinJoin that are being used with major cryptocurrencies not labeled as privacy coins, such as Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin.”<\/p>\n

Austin goes even further with this argument. Beyond his emphasis on misconceptions surrounding Dash, he argues that the support of off-chain transactions with Bitcoin via Lightning Network as well as Bitcoin\u2019s prevalence in darknet markets make it a higher risk from a regulatory perspective. Moreover, software such as Chaumian CoinJoin, which can be used with Bitcoin wallets but not Dash ones, are an even more sophisticated means of obscuring data from other participants in the network, he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did present all of this information to FinCEN but it app<\/a>ears the message never filtered through to the DoJ,\u201d Austin said. The company has also reached out to ShapeShift and says it will continue to pursue the matter until it has been resolved.<\/p>\n