Monero Leads Rally in Privacy Coins, Rising to Two-Year Highs

Oct 12, 2020 at 16:34 UTC.Major privacy-focused cryptocurrencies jumped on Monday, with monero, the biggest of the lot, extending its impressive recent run to two-year highs.

The move came after a group of countries jointly called for "Back doors" into encryption software.

That backdoor access potentially diminishes the privacy-safeguarding utility of such software and is driving increased interest in the privacy coins.

Monero traded at $135 during early U.S. hours, the highest level since September 2018, according to CoinDesk 20.The 15th largest cryptocurrency by market value has gained 23% this month alone and is up nearly 80% from lows below $75 observed in early September.

On a 24-hour basis, monero is currently up 7.6%, while bitcoin, the number one cryptocurrency, is up 0.75%.Zcash, also a privacy coin, is changing hands near $75 at press time, representing a 6.7% gain on the day.

Other cryptocurrencies with anonymity features such as zcoin, horizen and harmony are also flashing green, according to data source Messari.

These coins are gaining ground in the wake of a demand by the countries of the Five Eyes Alliance plus India and Japan for access to encrypted apps.

On Sunday, officials from the alliance - the U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada and New Zealand - signed, with India and Japan, a joint statement supporting strong encryption but with backdoor access that would help lawmakers protect vulnerable sections of society.

The statement escalates an ongoing battle between those favoring stronger encryption and companies building security protocols into their apps.

Lawmakers worldwide may eventually target privacy coins because they facilitate the hiding of user identity via encryption.