Today, Korean exchange Korbit delisted privacy coins. That's after Japan's Coin Check took similar steps yesterday. This has led many to believe that privacy coins might not survive, once regulations come in place.
Personally, I believe privacy coins are about to gain ground and emerge stronger than ever. That's because, they will now fall back to their core use, and that's offering transaction privacy. Privacy coins were not designed to sit pretty on exchanges for speculative purposes. They were designed to mask transactions, and give people the freedom to transact without anyone snooping around their money.
With Governments increasingly focused on taxing cryptocurrencies, people looking to transact big money without attracting taxes will increasingly turn to these coins. And there are many people who want this privacy. We recently saw the backlash Bitfinex faced, after asking investors to fill tax-related forms. That was an indicator that privacy is still valued in crypto.
That's not to say that all privacy coins will survive. Only the very best among them will make the cut! As for which ones will make it, that's up to personal research.
Personally, I believe PIVX (PIVX) will emerge as the top privacy coin in the next few years. 