On August 13, Monero (XMR) successfully implemented a non-contentious hard fork at a block height of 2,688,888, enhancing the security and privacy features of the coin. This update introduced Bulletproofs+ algorithm, reducing transaction sizes by 5%-7% and improving verification performance by 5%-7%. The number of cosigners for ring signature approval has also increased from 11 to 16. With the implementation of view tags, wallet syncs have sped up 30-40%. There were also a number of other upgrades.  Many popular centralized custodial crypto exchanges announced they would temporarily suspend XMR deposits and withdrawals before the hard fork. For some, withdrawals were the only option, for others, deposits only were offered.   Source: Reddit.com  It was unknown how long the suspension would last, thus causing concerns among the privacy coin users. Most CEXs only renewed withdrawals and deposits on Monday, August 15, 2022.  Although trading remained unaffected, users smarting from Celsius' suspension of withdrawals sought out alternatives where both XMR withdrawals and deposits into their wallets remained possible. ChangeNOW, a non-custodial crypto exchange and processing platform, was among the only options users had, allowing them to exchange XMR for another asset or get Monero for another cryptocurrency directly into their wallets.  In an interview, Mike Ermolaev, ChangeNOW's Head of PR, explained how the platform made this possible: “We didn’t disable XMR because we knew our users needed it, so we wanted to provide seamless access. To be honest, it wasn't an easy ride because we had to balance out liquidity from reserve exchanges and relied on our own liquidity pool to keep things going. Our partner Cake Wallet also helped us with their liquidity. So basically, we collected liquidity from all corners of pools, entering and exiting different providers' doors one by one– a true spirit of adventure. It is good to have so many of those doors, as they definitely benefit our users.”   Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.