By XMRWallet Team · Published · 5 min read
On April 18, 2022, Monero users coordinated a global mass withdrawal of XMR from centralized exchanges (CEXs) in an event dubbed "The Monerun" — deliberately timed to coincide with Monero's 8th anniversary. The concept was modeled on the idea of a bank run: if exchanges genuinely held the XMR they claimed, mass withdrawals would process normally. If they didn't, delays or blocks would reveal a shortfall.
Why the Monerun Happened
The organizers' core argument was rooted in Monero's privacy architecture. On transparent blockchains like Bitcoin, anyone can inspect an exchange's on-chain wallet balance — providing a rough external check on claimed reserves. Monero's ring signatures, RingCT, and stealth addresses make on-chain balances invisible by default. An exchange holding XMR would need to voluntarily share a view key to allow external verification of its reserves.
Organizers argued that this opacity created a structural opportunity for exchanges to maintain fractional or fabricated XMR reserves — operating on the assumption that users wouldn't collectively withdraw, and that without on-chain visibility there would be no way to detect it. The Monerun was designed to test that assumption directly. Platforms specifically named in the organizers' concerns included Binance, Huobi, and Poloniex.
What Happened on April 18, 2022
The results were mixed. Kraken processed XMR withdrawals without issue. CoinEx users reported no problems. Binance experienced delays, which the platform attributed to "network congestion" — a characterization the community debated at the time.
Binance issued a statement in response to the reserve allegations: the company said it maintains strict policies against using customer token holdings and has reconciliation systems to ensure on-chain balances match internal records.
Simultaneously, Monero's 8th anniversary saw the publication of network growth metrics covering April 2021 to April 2022. Key data from that period:
- Average daily transactions rose from approximately 23,000 to 40,000
- Network hash rate increased from 2.29 GH/s to 3.51 GH/s
- Blockchain size grew by 19.24 GB over the year
- The Monero subreddit grew from 211,000 to 257,000 members; Twitter followers from 389K to over 473K
- Protocol upgrades completed that year included Bulletproofs+, P2Pool integration, and output export optimization
2026 Epilogue: What Happened to Those Exchanges
What changed since the Monerun: In February 2024, Binance — one of the exchanges named in Monerun concerns — delisted Monero entirely from its global platform. Kraken delisted XMR in 2021. LocalMonero, the community's main P2P alternative, closed in May 2024. The centralized exchange landscape for XMR has narrowed significantly. The Monerun's underlying concern — don't trust exchanges with your XMR — has only become more relevant as the years since demonstrated that exchange risk is real and does materialize.
The community's response to these developments has been to build decentralized alternatives. Haveno DEX launched in 2024 as a Monero-specific decentralized exchange. UnstoppableSwap provides trustless Bitcoin-to-XMR atomic swaps with no central operator. The lesson the Monerun articulated — that XMR held on centralized exchanges is XMR you don't fully control — has been reinforced by subsequent events.
Why Financial Privacy Still Matters
The Monerun was not just about exchange reserves — it was also an expression of a broader principle. Privacy isn't a luxury or a tool for wrongdoing; it is a fundamental right. Keeping personal financial information private protects individuals from data exploitation, fraud, invasive surveillance, and economic coercion. Monero was built to provide that protection by default at the protocol level, for every transaction, without requiring users to opt in.
To strengthen your own privacy posture in the crypto space:
- Use decentralized exchanges — Haveno DEX, Bisq, or atomic swaps — rather than centralized platforms
- Withdraw XMR to a non-custodial wallet immediately after any exchange transaction
- Use a no-log VPN or Tor to protect your network-layer identity
- Choose privacy-first coins like Monero for transactions where anonymity matters
- Store your coins in wallets you control — where you hold the private keys
XMRWallet is a free, open-source, browser-based non-custodial Monero wallet — no downloads, no registration, keys generated locally and never transmitted. It is accessible via Tor for complete network-layer privacy. Whatever your reason for holding XMR, keeping it in your own wallet rather than on an exchange is the foundation of financial self-custody.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the Monerun?
A coordinated global XMR withdrawal from centralized exchanges on April 18, 2022 — Monero's 8th anniversary — designed to test whether exchanges held genuine reserves. Binance cited "network congestion" for delays; Kraken and CoinEx processed withdrawals normally. Binance later delisted XMR in February 2024.
Why does Monero's privacy make exchange reserve verification difficult?
Monero's ring signatures, RingCT, and stealth addresses make on-chain balances invisible by default. Unlike Bitcoin — where anyone can check an exchange's on-chain balance — Monero holdings require the exchange to voluntarily share a view key to allow external verification. The Monerun argued this opacity makes fractional reserves undetectable without a mass withdrawal test.
