Monero Defies Delistings and Tight Liquidity: Network Activity Soars Past Pre-2022 Levels

Monero just won't quit. While regulators and exchanges try to squeeze it out, the privacy coin's network hums louder than it has in years—proving that demand for financial opacity isn't going anywhere.

The Un-killable Network

Forget the headlines about delistings. On-chain metrics tell a different story. Transaction counts and active addresses have consistently held above their 2021 baseline. That's right—through all the regulatory saber-rattling and exchange capitulation, the core user base didn't flinch. They just kept transacting.

Liquidity? What Liquidity?

Tighter exchange liquidity was supposed to cripple usage. Instead, it highlighted Monero's original design thesis: it's peer-to-peer electronic cash, not a casino chip for leveraged speculation. The network activity suggests users are actually using XMR for its intended purpose—value transfer—not just parking it on some CEX to chase yield like your average degen.

The Privacy Premium Endures

This resilience underscores a brutal truth for surveillance advocates: when people really want privacy, they'll bypass convenience. Delistings just pushed activity to decentralized exchanges, atomic swaps, and direct peer-to-peer markets. The tech stack built for censorship-resistance is doing its job, creating a liquidity mosaic that's harder to track but demonstrably alive.

So, while traditional finance pats itself on the back for 'cleaning up' the ecosystem, a multi-billion-dollar network operates in plain sight, thriving on its own terms. It's almost as if trying to ban math has never worked. The final irony? All that regulatory pressure might have just made Monero stronger by weeding out the fair-weather users and strengthening its anti-fragile, grassroots core. Wall Street still doesn't get it—you can't delist an idea.

Exchange delistings and liquidity constraints

Over the past several years, major platforms including Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, OKX, Huobi, and Bitstamp have delisted or restricted Monero, citing regulatory and traceability concerns. 

Despite these constraints, TRM Labs found that Monero’s on-chain usage has not declined. The data shows that activity is driven less by casual retail trading and more by users actively seeking privacy features, even at the cost of higher friction and fewer on-ramps.

The liquidity gap also appears in payment behavior. While ransomware groups frequently request Monero and may offer discounts for XMR payments, most ransom transactions continue to be settled in Bitcoin.

TRM Labs attributed this to liquidity and usability considerations, noting that bitcoin remains easier to acquire and convert at scale despite its greater traceability.

Market data for the last 30 days further illustrates the difference in liquidity. Monero experienced about two and a half times the volatility of Bitcoin and Ethereum, thus implying smaller markets and a more unequal structure, instead of isolated price shocks.

TRM Labs shared the extended adoption of Monero in darknet marketplaces. In 2025, only 48% of the darknet-launched marketplaces supported XMR payments.

Network-layer research reveals non-standard peer behavior

In addition to transaction analysis, TRM Labs worked with academic researchers to focus on Monero’s behavior in its peer-to-peer (P2P) network. The research, published ahead of print on arXiv, found measurable deviations from expected protocol patterns.

According to the findings, about 14-15% of reachable Monero peers exhibited non-standard behavior. Observed deviations included irregular handshake patterns, unusual message times, and strange peer list compositions.

Despite exchange delistings and enforcement pressure, XMR activity on Monero remains above pre-2022 levels.

Key findings from our latest research:

🔺 48% of new darknet markets in 2025 are XMR-only
🔺 Most ransomware payments still occur in BTC — liquidity matters
🔺 14–15% of… pic.twitter.com/BYPJMrLaJN

— TRM Labs (@trmlabs) February 16, 2026

A common theme for the research was the concentration of infrastructure. A small number of hosting environments accounted for a large number of non-standard peers. In peer-to-peer systems, such concentration might influence visibility into message propagation and network topology over time.

TRM Labs added that, while security measures on Monero’s blockchain, such as ring signatures and hidden addresses, remain in place, network-layer dynamics could cast doubt on the theory of anonymity.

In addition to this sentiment, TRM Labs has taken another step, announcing a $70 million Series C funding round that values the blockchain intelligence firm at $1 billion. 

Led by Blockchain Capital, the round featured participation of Goldman Sachs, Citi Ventures, Galaxy Ventures, and other returning investors. The new capital is expected to speed product development and international expansion as TRM advances partnerships with law enforcement and the major financial institutions.

The smartest crypto minds already read our newsletter. Want in? Join them.