Why Monero still matters in 2026

Privacy by default, not by option

Monero's defining feature is that privacy is mandatory: amounts, senders and receivers are obscured for everyone, all the time. That is structurally different from opt-in privacy, where the few who use it stand out.

Delistings cut both ways

Exchange delistings made XMR harder to acquire on centralized venues, but they also pushed activity toward the no-KYC and peer-to-peer tools this directory tracks, which is arguably healthier for the network.

The bottom line

For anyone who treats financial privacy as a baseline rather than a feature, Monero remains the most credible option.