Monero spikes as US court ruling sparks privacy coin rally

Monero price has risen for three consecutive days and is hovering near its highest level since April 2022.

Monero (XMR), the biggest privacy-focused coin in crypto, jumped to a high of $216.3, up 110% from its lowest level in 2024. In the last 12 months, it has also outperformed other popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).

Monero vs Bitcoin 12-month performance | Source: CoinMarketCap

A recent US court on Tornado Cash (TORN) served as the main catalyst for the ongoing Monero rebound.

In late 2024, a judge ruled that the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, erred when it implemented sanctions on the company.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that smart contracts operating autonomously cannot be classified as “property” as the government argued. He also noted that the immutable smart contracts that run Tornado Cash were not subject to ownership or control, making them illegible to the purview of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

The Treasury Department had argued that Tornado Cash was a security threat in that it helped criminals, including Lazarus Group, to launder billions of dollars.

In line with that ruling, the Treasury Department lifted sanctions on Tornado Cash and made it available to Americans.

Therefore, Monero and other privacy coins rose as the market cheered these developments. That’s because these tokens have also been in the focus among authorities for their advanced security features that make transactions anonymous.

This scrutiny has had an impact on their operations, with many exchanges delisting them. Popular exchanges like Binance, Kraken, OKX, Coinbase, and HTX have delisted Monero in the past few years. Most of its trading happens in smaller exchanges like MEX, KuCoin, and Bitfinex.

Therefore, the Tornado Cash ruling means that some of these exchanges may start to review Monero and possibly re-list Monero and other privacy tokens. This explains why other similar coins like Dash (DASH), Zcash (ZEC), and Horizen (ZEN) also rose.

Monero price technical analysis

Source: crypto.news

The weekly chart shows that the XMR price has been in a slow uptrend in the past few months. It rose from a low of $102 in February last year to $215.

The coin has remained solidly above the 50-week Exponential Moving Average, a sign that bulls are in control. Monero has also formed an ascending channel and a small doji candlestick. Oscillators like the Stochastic RSI and Momentum have pointed upwards.

The coin’s price will likely continue rising in the coming weeks. A break above the upper side of the ascending channel will point to more upside, potentially to $290, the highest swing in April 2022.