Confidential cryptocurrencies, such as Zcash (ZEC) and Monero (XMR), are disappearing from the market as cryptocurrency exchanges are one by one removing them from their lists of trading assets.

Since the beginning of January, the cryptocurrency exchange OKX has delisted several important pairs related to confidential coins, stating that they do not meet the listing criteria. Last week, Binance added a "monitoring" label to coins Monero, Zcash, Firo, and MobileCoin, which may indicate possible discontinuation of support for these coins.

According to information on Reddit, Binance's XMR lending program has already been closed, and Monero itself has been removed from the available assets. It's interesting to note that XMR was added as a collateral asset just a few months ago in May 2022.

As a result of these recent events, over the past week, the price of Zcash has dropped by nearly 19%, and Monero has lost around 3%. Analysts note that the liquidity of these confidential coins has dropped to historically low levels.

Despite this, confidential cryptocurrencies, which embody cryptographic ideals, continue to attract the attention of many investors. For example, Monero and Zcash together have a total market capitalization of $3.48 billion.

However, Binance's negative attitude towards these coins poses a threat to this metric. With a daily trading volume of $15 billion, Binance's withdrawal could present a serious challenge for both projects.

Considering that in November 2023, Binance admitted to violating US banking laws and paid a fine of $4 billion, and also committed to tightening anti-money laundering measures and implementing a "Know Your Customer" system, the platform's team simply has no other choice.

Currently, there is a struggle to prevent Binance from completely abandoning confidential coins. Some projects related to these cryptocurrencies have developed workarounds to access Binance, but Monero insists on not complying with requirements that contradict the essence of the project.