Monero’s price has surged for three consecutive days, nearing its highest level since April 2022.
Monero (XMR), recognized as the leading privacy-focused cryptocurrency, has reached a peak of $216.3, marking a 110% increase from its lowest point in early 2024. Over the past year, it has notably outperformed other major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).
A recent ruling by a US court regarding Tornado Cash (TORN) has been a significant driver of Monero’s resurgence.
In late 2024, a judge determined that the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) acted incorrectly when imposing sanctions on the entity. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that smart contracts functioning autonomously cannot qualify as “property,” as the government claimed. It clarified that the immutable smart contracts associated with Tornado Cash were not subject to ownership or control, thus falling outside the scope of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
The Treasury Department had asserted that Tornado Cash posed a security risk, alleging it facilitated criminals, including the Lazarus Group, in laundering billions of dollars.
Following this ruling, the Treasury lifted sanctions on Tornado Cash, making it accessible to Americans.
This development resulted in a rise for Monero and other privacy coins, with the market responding positively. These tokens have been under scrutiny by regulators due to their advanced security features that enable anonymous transactions.
This regulatory attention has impacted their availability, with major exchanges like Binance, Kraken, OKX, and others having delisted Monero in recent years. Most trading activity now occurs on smaller exchanges such as MEX, KuCoin, and Bitfinex.
The ruling concerning Tornado Cash may prompt some exchanges to reconsider listing Monero and similar privacy tokens again. This could explain the upward movement in other comparable cryptocurrencies such as Dash (DASH), Zcash (ZEC), and Horizen (ZEN).
Monero Price Technical Analysis
The weekly chart indicates that the XMR price has experienced a gradual uptrend over recent months, climbing from a low of $102 in February last year to $215.
The cryptocurrency remains securely above the 50-week Exponential Moving Average, signaling bullish control. Monero has also established an ascending channel complemented by a small doji candlestick. Additionally, oscillators like the Stochastic RSI and Momentum indicate upward momentum.
Price projections suggest that Monero may continue to rise in the forthcoming weeks. A breakout above the upper boundary of the ascending channel could lead to further gains, potentially reaching $290, the peak experienced in April 2022.
