Monero (XMR)

Monero (XMR) Cryptocurrency: Definition, Mining, Vs. Bitcoin

Monero (XMR) is an open-source, privacy-oriented cryptocurrency that was launched in 2014. It focuses on providing enhanced privacy and anonymity for its users through the use of blockchain technology. Unlike traditional currencies, Monero is decentralized and can be used for trading and spending.

Key Features of Monero:

  • Opaque Blockchain: Monero's blockchain is designed to make transaction details and the amount of every transaction anonymous. It achieves this by disguising the addresses used by participants.
  • Easy Mining: Investors can mine Monero using their own CPUs, which means they don't need to invest in special hardware.
  • Privacy-Oriented: Monero's privacy features make it easy to use for both legal and illicit activities, including use on the dark web.

Unlike other major cryptocurrencies, Monero focuses on privacy by default. It uses technologies such as Stealth Addresses, Ring Signatures, and RingCT to ensure the privacy of its users. As a result, the sender, receiver, and amount of every single transaction are hidden, making Monero difficult to trace. This also makes it a fungible currency, as merchants and individuals accepting Monero do not need to worry about blacklisted or tainted coins.

Monero provides fast and inexpensive payments globally without the need for wire transfer or check clearing fees. It is decentralized and not constrained by any particular legal jurisdiction, providing safety from capital control. The project is constantly working on new technologies and has a large community of developers and researchers contributing to its growth.

It should be noted that while Monero provides privacy benefits, it has also been used for illicit activities such as money laundering, darknet markets, ransomware, and cryptojacking. The United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has even posted bounties for contractors that can develop Monero-tracing technologies.

Overall, Monero is a cryptocurrency that prioritizes privacy and anonymity, making it attractive to users who value these features.

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Where to Buy Monero

Binance

Binance is a centralized exchange where you can easily buy Monero and other cryptocurrencies. Create a free account on the Binance website or app to get started.

Coinbase

Although Monero is not currently supported on Coinbase, you can sign up with Coinbase to stay updated and receive notifications when Monero becomes available on the Coinbase app. You can also check CoinMarketCap for a list of places where you can buy Monero and the different currencies you can use for purchase.

Kraken

Millions of people choose Kraken to buy Monero. With Kraken, you can fund your account using various payment methods and buy Monero with as little as $10. Kraken offers a safe and easy way to get started with crypto.

Ledger

Ledger provides a simple and secure way to buy Monero. You can buy Monero by following a step-by-step guide that includes finding a Monero compatible hardware wallet, buying Monero on exchange services, and transferring your Monero to your hardware wallet. Ledger hardware wallets offer the highest security standards for storing your Monero.

These are just a few options where you can buy Monero. It's important to do your research and choose a platform that meets your needs in terms of security, reliability, and liquidity.

Founders of Monero

The cryptocurrency Monero was founded by multiple individuals who played key roles in its development.

Nicolas van Saberhagen

Nicolas van Saberhagen authored a white paper in 2013 that described the concept of CryptoNote, which served as the basis for Monero's protocol.

thankful_for_today

Thankful_for_today designed a code based on CryptoNote that led to the creation of bitMonero, which later became known as Monero.

Riccardo Spagni (fluffypony)

Riccardo Spagni is one of the seven founders of Monero.

He is a member of the Core Team and has been the longest lead maintainer of Monero. He is also involved in other projects that support decentralization and privacy, such as Tari Labs and Project Coral Reef.

David Latapie

David Latapie is one of the seven founders of Monero.

He is currently the European Director for the cryptocurrency and a member of the Core Team.

Others

In addition to the founders mentioned above, there are five other developers who remain anonymous. They are known by their pseudonyms Smooth, othe, NoodleDoodle, Taco Time, and eizh.

All of them are also members of the Core Team.

It's important to note that Monero's continuous growth and development also rely on the contributions of the Monero Community, the Research Lab, workgroups, and volunteers.

Roadmap and Future Plans of Monero

September

  • Recovered from a spam attack
  • Monero Research Lab Papers 1 and 2 published
  • Monero Research Lab Paper 3 published

March

  • Network Upgrade to require minimum @ringsize of 3 on all transactions

April

  • Network Upgrade to adjust minimum blocksize and dynamic fee algorithm

September

  • GUI out of beta
  • Network Upgrade to increase minimum ringsize to 5 and require RingCT transactions
  • GUI 0.11.0.0 Helium Hydra released

October

  • Monero Research Lab Paper 6 published
  • GUI 0.11.1.0 Helium Hydra released

April

  • GUI 0.12.0.0 Lithium Luna released
  • New Proof of Work CryptoNightV2
  • Network upgrade to increase minimal ringsize to 7, integrate multisig, subaddresses, and change PoW algo
  • Getmonero.org Localization in French and Polish

August

  • Getmonero.org Moneropedia open for Localization
  • Getmonero.org Localization in Arabic

October

  • GUI 0.13.0.3 Beryllium Bullet released
  • New Proof of Work CryptoNightV3
  • Implementation of Bulletproofs to reduce transaction sizes
  • Network upgrade to increase minimal ring size to 11, integrate Bulletproofs, update fees calculation algorithm, and change PoW algo
  • Monero Research Lab Papers 8 and 9 published
  • GUI 0.13.0.4 Beryllium Bullet released
  • Monero Research Lab Paper 7 published
  • Monero Research Lab Paper 10 published
  • Implementation of Monero Messaging System (MMS) to automate multisig wallets information exchange

March

  • GUI 0.14.0.0 Boron Butterfly released
  • New Community Crowdfunding System (CCS) to replace the Forum Funding System (FFS)
  • New Proof of Work CryptoNightR
  • Getmonero.org Localization in Brazilian-Portuguese and Dutch

In addition to the roadmap, Monero provides various resources and features for its users:

Choose a Wallet

To use Monero, you need a wallet.

Get Some Coins

Acquire Monero coins through various methods.

It's a Currency; Use It!

Monero can be exchanged for goods, services, and other currencies.

Find Answers to Your Questions

The Monero community has compiled a thorough FAQ and is available to help.

Guides and Resources

The Monero community offers a vast amount of resources, including user guides and developer guides.

Moneropedia

A guide to terms and concepts used in Monero.

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What is Monero?

Monero, recognized by the ticker symbol XMR, is a digital currency, which functions pretty much like regular money except for the fact that it's purely digital. No, it's not 'Internet money'; it's a type of cryptocurrency, the same class of digital currencies that includes the widely popular Bitcoin.

Now, if it's more of the same, you might be wondering, 'why bother knowing about Monero when we already have Bitcoin?' The answer lies in what makes Monero stand out in this crowd of cryptocurrencies: it's exceptional emphasis on privacy and anonymity. And this is not to be taken lightly, considering privacy concerns that loom with digital transactions.

Monero's Focus on Privacy and Anonymity

While all cryptocurrencies offer a level of privacy, Monero takes it a notch higher. Bitcoin transactions, for example, are recorded on a public ledger called blockchain. Anyone can track your transaction history and the balance in your wallet by knowing your public address, although your real-world identity still remains hidden. But with Monero, the entire transaction is masked. The sender, receiver, and the amount transaction are all kept hidden using advanced cryptography.

Understanding Monero Transactions

Monero accomplishes this privacy feature by implementing a few technological measures. Let's make sense of these using some simple analogies. Think of Monero's system as a subway ride where each passenger (representing a transaction) wears a mask.

First, Monero uses something called 'ring signatures'. It's like if you were going somewhere with a group of friends and all of you wore identical masks. If someone tried to find you in the crowd, they wouldn't be able to tell who the real you is. This is achieved by fusing a group of possible signers to create a 'ring', making it impossible to link a signature back to a particular user.

Second, there's 'stealth addresses'. This is like if someone wanted to send you a letter, instead of giving them your home address, you provide a one-time use address where you can safely collect the mail without ever revealing your actual location.

Lastly, Monero uses 'ring confidential transactions' (RingCT), which hides the amount a user sends in a transaction, like if you were to pass a bag to someone in our masked subway ride, no one would know how much it contains.

These measures collectively make Monero one of the most privacy-centric cryptocurrencies available. It ensures the user's financial information remains confidential while also guaranteeing that transactions are not linked to a user's real-world identity. But remember, while it offers enhanced privacy, it's still crucial to use Monero responsibly.

The creation of Monero

Monero, known by its trade symbol 'XMR', is a digital cryptocurrency that was launched in April 2014. Unlike Bitcoin, which offers its users a degree of pseudonymity, Monero was crafted to provide complete privacy by anonymizing the identity of its users and their transactions.

Monero's development came as a result of the apparent lack of privacy and security systems in Bitcoin. While Bitcoin was groundbreaking, its transaction history is transparent and public, leading to potential issues with privacy. Many saw this as a pitfall. This concern led to the creation of Monero, a cryptocurrency that keeps user information confidential and transactions untraceable by default through an innovative system of ring signatures and stealth addresses.

So who were the brains behind Monero's inception? Actually, Monero is unlike many other cryptocurrencies that have a known figurehead or a founder. The concept of Monero started from a digital currency named 'Bytecoin' which was the first real-life implementation of CryptoNote, a technology that fuels most privacy-centered coins. Bytecoin had 82% pre-mined coins, which led to considerable controversy. This concern led a group of seven developers to fork Bytecoin and create Bitmonero - later renamed Monero meaning 'coin' in Esperanto - on the 18th April 2014.

Of the seven developers who created Monero, five decided to remain anonymous. However, two developers, namely Riccardo Spagni (aka 'fluffypony') and David Latapie, made their identities public. Quickly, Spagni became the leading figure and project steward until he stepped down in 2019. Today, Monero development continues to be led by a decentralized team of contributors.

From the outset, Monero's goal was to build upon the foundation of Bitcoin but with a greater emphasis on privacy, anonymity, and fungibility. Since then, Monero has grown steadily and has become respected in the cryptocurrency world for its deep commitment to privacy and its constant technological improvement. Today, Monero is synonymous with private transactions and is often the cryptocurrency of choice for those who need to perform transactions discretely.

How does Monero work?

Monero is a digital currency, much like Bitcoin, but with an extra focus on privacy, decentralisation, and scalability. This cryptocurrency has been operational since 2014, providing an alternative financial platform where the details of transactions, including the identities of the sender and receiver and the amount transferred, are encrypted and kept private.

How Does Monero Encrypted Transactions Work?

Monero employs complex and sophisticated encryption algorithms to ensure that transaction information is not accessible in the public domain. This cryptocurrency achieves its unique privacy measures through the use of three distinct privacy technologies:

  1. Ring Signatures: This technology helps hide the sender's identity. It does this by shuffling the sender's account keys with public keys obtained from the blockchain, resulting in a 'ring' of possible signers, thereby obfuscating the original sender’s identity.
  2. Ring Confidential Transactions (RingCT): RingCT, an upgrade of the Ring Signatures, further conceals the amount involved in the transaction. The actual transactional amount is hidden within a group of other amounts, rendering it virtually impossible to decipher the transferred amount.
  3. Stealth Addresses: In a bid to protect the recipient’s identity, Monero creates one-time addresses for each transaction on behalf of the recipient. This ensures that transactions posted to the blockchain do not have any direct connection with the recipient’s address.

Why Monero Stands Apart From Other Cryptocurrencies

Unlike Bitcoin and several other cryptocurrencies, which broadcast transaction details to the public ledger (blockchain) unencrypted, Monero encrypts these details and verifies the transactions through network consensus. The system allows anyone to view the blockchain, but without a private view key, the transaction data remains unreadable.

This makes Monero a standout choice for individuals who value privacy. Its non-traceable transaction history also makes it a preferred cryptocurrency choice among those who want to avoid their funds getting tainted by potentially illicit transactions that might have occurred in the coins' past.

Monero and Decentralization

A unique feature of Monero is its commitment to maintaining a decentralized network. It achieves this through the use of an egalitarian concept that allows for equal participation in network operations by all users. For instance, Monero's mining process is designed to perform efficiently on many types of hardware, preventing a concentration of power in entities with more advanced hardware, as is the case with some other cryptocurrencies.

As cryptocurrencies continue to shape the future of digital transactions, privacy remains paramount. Through its advanced cryptographic technologies, Monero offers a secure alternative to those who appreciate maintaining anonymity in their transactions.

How to Mine Monero

In the digital financial world, 'mining' is a term used to describe the process by which new units of cryptocurrency are generated. Just like a gold miner works hard to extract precious metal from the Earth, a cryptocurrency miner uses the power of their computer to dig up digital treasure. One cryptocurrency that differentiates itself with a unique mining process is Monero.

Monero isn't like most other cryptocurrencies, it utilizes a principle called 'proof-of-work'. But it's not the same proof-of-work that Bitcoin or Ethereum use. Instead, Monero's approach is designed to be 'CPU-friendly', meaning it's designed to run well on many types of hardware - not just expensive, specialized equipment.

In simple terms, mining Monero involves using your computer's processing power to solve intricate problems. What does this mean exactly? Well, every time a transaction is made with Monero, the details of that transaction need to be recorded and verified on the 'blockchain' - a digital ledger that records all Monero transactions for all time.

Your computer competes with other Monero miners' computers to solve a complex mathematical problem. The first one who solves the problem gets to add the 'block' of transactions to the blockchain and, as a reward, is given some newly minted Monero coins.

This might sound like a lot of effort, but it is a critical part of how cryptocurrencies maintain their security. By solving these problems, miners keep the Monero network secure by checking and validating its transactions. This means that no one can fraudulently spend the same Monero coins twice.

So while the idea of mining for digital money might seem a little abstract, just remember, it's not all that different from mining for gold or diamonds. It takes time, resources, and a lot of work, but the rewards have the potential to be well worth the effort.

The Benefits of Using Monero

When it comes to privacy in the wide world of cryptocurrencies, Monero is a leading choice. Monero offers an exceptional level of privacy, so much so that it's virtually untraceable. This means that the parties involved in transactions, and the value of the transactions themselves, remain secret.

Monero achieves this level of privacy through complex and effective cryptographic techniques. Unlike other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, where transaction details are transparent and traceable, Monero ensures that transactional anonymity is maintained.

Monero: Resistant to Censorship

Beyond its elite level of privacy, one key benefit of Monero is its resistance to censorship. What this means is that no one, including governments or financial institutions, can block you from sending or receiving transactions via Monero. This is because of the decentralized nature of Monero, where no single entity or authority has control over the network.

This attribute becomes particularly important in countries or regions where the government strictly controls money flow, or where the risk of financial censorship is high. Residents therein can use Monero as a tool for maintaining financial freedom.

Global Accessibility of Monero

Another laudable attribute of Monero is its global accessibility. Just like with other decentralized cryptocurrencies, you can access Monero from anywhere around the world. This is true as long as you have an internet connection and a device such as a computer or a smartphone.

Monero's global accessibility can provide financial empowerment to people in remote or under-banked areas. With Monero, these individuals can access financial services at their fingertips without needing to rely on traditional banking systems.

In conclusion, while cryptocurrencies on the whole provide a myriad of benefits, Monero stands out for its pledge to privacy, resistance to censorship, and global accessibility. Its laudable features have caught the eye of crypto investors worldwide, adding to its growing popularity.