Kraken Adds Anonymous Cryptocurrency Monero

Digital currency exchange Kraken has officially opened trading for monero (XMR).

The decision marks the latest validation for the privacy-oriented digital currency, which in 2016 found traction in appealing to users interested in transacting on dark markets or who otherwise desired, or believed there could be demand for, digital currencies with added privacy features.

The digital currency has to date been picked up by notable darknet marketplaces, with AlphaBay announcing in August of last year it would accept the cryptocurrency and darknet market Oasis Market following suit.

However, it could be said to have struggled courting the interest of major exchanges.

With the move, Kraken could be poised to reverse the trend, joining other major exchanges Bitfinex and Poloniex as one of the largest to accept the cryptocurrency. (It will list the currency pairs XMR/USD, XMR/XBT and XMR/EUR from the launch).

Notably, the cryptocurrency's price received no notable support from the announcement, falling from at $16.05 at roughly 12:00 UTC to $15.42 at 21:49 UTC on 3rd January, CoinMarketCap figures reveal.

Improving perception

In a marketplace in which the value propositions of digital currencies are continually analyzed and questioned, it seems monero is showing signs it could buck this trend.

As monero harnesses ring signatures to help users remain anonymous, it has enjoyed a slow increase in both adoption and prices since its release in 2014. Indeed, even notoriously fickle bitcoin developers are now supporting the project due to its potential privacy advances.

Such support was cited by Kraken in its formal statements as well.

"Monero is one of the leading cryptocurrencies that has seen huge 40x market cap growth in 2016 and trades with high volume and liquidity," Kraken stated on its blog. "Monero is built on the core principles of privacy, decentralization, open development, scalability and fungibility."

Ribbon cutting image via Shutterstock