They couldn't take the heat.

In perhaps the worst business move of 2021, Bittrex delisted Monero and other privacy coins. Users were warned to move all of their coins into a private wallet and off of the exchange in a timely manner.

Ok, first of all — how autistic do you have to be to hold a privacy coin on an exchange? What kind of idiot?

The measure caused Monero to dump slightly, from around $165 to $140, in the hours after the announcement. However, it is not expected to have a huge effect on the long term price of Monero as Bittrex only holds around 8-9% of Monero transaction volume. Other exchanges are expected to follow suit, as the threat of regulation from the US looms on the horizon.

This is great for crypto and humanity in general. What we are seeing is a crippling of any business that relied too heavily on the US for its consumer base. This will only help forward thinking companies like Binance, who had the brains to realize that the US was not the primary market for crypto. It's the primary market for speculation and price discovery, but not the primary market for anything useful. Let the US pump the bags of everyone else in the market. After that, America has served its purpose.

The move towards DEXs and away from centralized exchanges continues as well. With defi expanding its borders and technology, there will be no shortage of Monero in the marketplace — just a changing of the location you get it from. In general, it is good to see a decoupling of crypto from the United States as I discussed in previous pieces. The US is generally behind the East in technology and innovation, and its politics will only serve to drive more business away from it. Also, companies that insist on hitching their wagons to the US will fall as well.

Everything is going according to plan.