What is Monero?
Monero (XMR) is a private, decentralized cryptocurrency that keeps your finances confidential and secure. Monero uses advanced cryptography to hide senders and recipients in transactions. The idea behind this cryptocurrency is to achieve the highest possible level of decentralization, which means that a user does not need to trust anyone else on the network.
Monero has a current trading volume of 53,220,846 USD. If you want to use Monero, you need a wallet that you can download from their official website.
Monero value – Real time price
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How does Monero work?
Monero works by using a blockchain with privacy-enhancing techniques to hide transactions and achieve anonymity and fungibility. Observers cannot decode addresses that trade with Monero, transaction amounts, address balances or transaction history.
Monero is based on CryptoNote, a cryptocurrency protocol that was first described in a white paper by Nicolas van Saberhagen in 2013. The cryptocurrency was launched in 2014 and has since undergone several improvements and upgrades.
Today it uses RandomX, a proof-of-work algorithm that validates transactions and rewards miners with XMR. The algorithm is designed to be resistant to ASIC mining. Monero has no maximum supply limit, which means that there are an infinite number of XMR.
The CryptoNote protocol
CryptoNote is a protocol for designing secure and anonymous cryptocurrencies. It uses a technique called “ring signatures” to provide anonymity for transactions on the blockchain by making it difficult to determine which member of a group of users was the actual sender of a certain transaction. CryptoNote is based on a white paper published by Nicolas van Saberhagen (presumably pseudonym) in 2013.
The protocol aims to solve some problems identified in Bitcoin, such as traceability of transactions, proof-of-work function, irregular emission, hard-coded constants and clumsy scripts. CryptoNote is the foundation for several decentralized cryptocurrencies that value privacy, such as Monero, MobileCoin and Safex Cash.
Ring signatures
Ring signatures are a type of digital signature that can be performed by any member of a group of users who each have keys. Therefore, a message signed with a ring signature is endorsed by someone in a certain group of people.
One of the security features of a ring signature is that it should be computationally difficult to determine which of the group members’ keys was used to create the signature. For example, a ring signature can be used to provide an anonymous signature from “a senior official in the White House”, without revealing which official signed the message.
Ring signatures are suitable for this application because the anonymity of a ring signature cannot be revoked, and because the group for a ring signature can be improvised (requires no preparation). Ring signatures are used in Monero to provide transactions with invisibility. A ring signature utilizes your account keys and a number of public keys (also known as outputs) that are drawn from the blockchain using a triangular distribution method.
Over time, previous outputs can be used multiple times to form possible signing participants. In a “ring” of possible signers, all ring members are equal and valid. There is no way for an outside observer to see which of the possible signers in a signing group belongs to your account. So ring signatures ensure that transaction outputs are untraceable.
Buy Monero
To buy Monero (XMR) you can follow these steps:
- Get a Monero wallet (e.g. Ledger Nano X, MyMonero) that can store your XMR securely.
- Find your Monero address that you need to receive XMR from other parties.
- Go to a platform that offers buying Monero with your desired currency (e.g. USD, EUR, SEK). You can use CoinMarketCap to see which platforms have market pairs with XMR.
- Create an account on the platform and verify your identity if required. You may need to provide personal information and upload documents to comply with legal requirements.
- Deposit money on the platform with your preferred payment option (e.g. credit/debit card or bank transfer).
- Buy XMR with your money at the current market price or set a limit order to wait for a lower price.
- Withdraw your XMR to your wallet by entering your Monero address and desired amount. You may need to pay a fee for the withdrawal.
Sell XMR
To sell Monero (XMR) you can follow these steps:
- Get a platform that offers selling Monero against your desired currency (e.g. USD, EUR, SEK). You can use CoinMarketCap to see which platforms have market pairs with XMR.
- Log in to the platform and enter your Monero address that you want to send XMR from. You may need to verify your identity if required.
- Send XMR from your wallet to the platform’s address. You may need to pay a fee for the transfer.
- Sell XMR at the current market price or set a limit order to wait for a higher price.
- Withdraw your money from the platform with your preferred payment option (e.g. credit/debit card or bank transfer). You may need to pay a fee for the withdrawal.
Founders and history
Monero’s founders are not entirely known, as the cryptocurrency is based on a protocol created by an anonymous person or group who called themselves Nicolas van Saberhagen. Monero was launched in 2014 as a fork of BitMonero, a project that was started by a Bitcointalk forum user who called themselves thankful_for_today.
After falling into conflict with the community over BitMonero’s development direction, a group of other forum users took over the project and renamed it Monero. Both Nicolas van Saberhagen and thankful_for_today are still anonymous.
Monero has since been developed by a team of volunteer developers, many of whom also choose to be anonymous. One of the most prominent developers and spokespersons for Monero has been Riccardo Spagni, also known as fluffypony.
Spagni is a South African programmer and entrepreneur who has been Monero’s lead maintainer since 2014. Spagni was arrested, however, in July 2021 in the US at the request of South African authorities, who accuse him of fraud in connection with a previous job. Spagni denies the allegations and claims that they are false.
Monero also has a Monero Research Lab (MRL), which consists of academics and researchers who study and improve Monero’s protocol and features. Some members of the MRL are also anonymous.