What is Monero (XMR) cryptocurrency?

Monero coin (XMR) is one of the most popular open-source decentralized cryptocurrencies, which bets on maximum privacy of personal data and customer comfort, as well as complete anonymous transactions. In this article, we will tell you how this coin manages to remain anonymous, as well as introduce you to its advantages, chips, mining and technology in more detail.

The history of the XMR coin

This cryptocurrency was developed on the algorithms of the Cryptonote protocol, a PoW modification in April 2014. The goal of the Cryptonote protocol is to ensure that the technology is open source, eliminates inaccuracies in the algorithms of Bitcoin, and allows mining a coin with ASIC machines. The protocol solves all of these tasks thanks to ring signatures and stealth addresses.

Such a protocol was first used in 2012 for a cryptocurrency consonant with Bitcoin (but do not confuse them) — Bytecoin. However, attempts to use this protocol were not successful, as the distribution of tokens was unclear and soon the developers began to be accused of fraud. In order to change the situation in a positive direction, it was decided to restart the network through a new hard fork. As a result of the restart, a new cryptocurrency appeared, which was called Bitmonero. After that, the marketers of the project, in order to further successful promotion, removed the prefix «Bit» from the name. And years later, the Cryptonote protocol was replaced by the RandomX algorithm. This eliminated the need to update every two years. And so one of the most common cryptocurrencies with the highest anonymity, Monero, appeared.

Key Features of Monero   

• Anonymity. XMR is one of those few coins that really ensures the confidentiality of their clients' data. Since the system itself encrypts transaction amounts, user email addresses, their signatures and all other aspects that are needed for conversions, the client can absolutely not worry about the leakage of any data and for his identification. This is what makes Monero different from other cryptocurrencies that keep the history of exchange transactions, customer addresses in open access for everyone.
• High interchangeability. This implies that, if anything, one coin can be absolutely easily replaced with another, without losing the value of each of them. The significance lies not only in the value of the coin on exchanges and exchangers, but also in reputation, which is very important for any coin and any token. Rating and good reputation are usually checked by whether a digital asset has been noticed in illegal and questionable transactions. For example, the user received «bad money» by paying for a cup of coffee or equipment.
• Network scalability. XMR cryptocurrency does not have a limited volume of the block itself, like, for example, BTC — only 4 MB. Removing restrictions allows the server to place large information schemas in blocks, if necessary. The blocks will equally increase depending on the increase in information, adjusting to the work. A big plus is that the transaction verification time will remain the same, regardless of the amount of incoming information.But there are also some disadvantages, for example, Monero mining will be done with spammed transactions, because the large blocks created will increase the memory size from gigabytes to terabytes.

Technologies to protect the privacy of Monero users as much as possible

• Stealth addresses. Many cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, have two keys: login (public key) and password (private) to the client's personal wallet. If an attacker tries to crack one of these keys, then the information may be lost, since one of the keys is visible to absolutely everyone. The built-in Stealth-addresses algorithm solves this problem by making all keys more secure, making them invisible.
• Universal signatures. Such signatures were described by computer scientists Adi Shamir and Ron Rivest more than 20 years ago.In their works, a concept was presented, which clarified the use of one signature for all users. Initially, it may seem that this is wrong when everyone uses the same key, but you need to look at it from the other side. For example, if you take a bank account, according to which everyone (either company employees or relatives) receives checks and uses one password for everyone or one QR code. Since all the signatories use the same thing, the identity of each person remains unknown.
• Ring CT — circular financial operations. They were first introduced by Shenom Neter. Ring facsimiles are used to hide the real inputs of transactions so that it is impossible to tell what the history of each output of that transaction is in the block chain. A ring signature is an electronic signature that allows a person from a team (ring) to sign any documents, not only on their own behalf, but also on behalf of all members of the group. At the same time, it is not known exactly who from the group performed this action.

Monero — how to mine?

The mechanism for mining Monero by mining differs significantly from Bitcoin, since XMR is an inflationary coin. The programmers of the project introduced unlimited emission in order to constantly support the development of the coin network and stimulate the mining of the coin in general. It is also important to mention that the BTC algorithm works according to the principle of network growth = increasing the difficulty of mining coins. This principle made bitcoin mining unprofitable for blocks with low computational speed and power. In the Monero network, in turn, everything was organized in such a way as to prevent unprofitability and the growth of cryptocurrency emission.

In order to mine Monero and any digital assets using Proof-of-Work technology, users must have computing machines to create new blocks. The key feature of Monero mining is that it is available on both regular computers and farms (ASIC). The latter have a large hashrate and for maximum client security, the network constantly updates its algorithms.

The profitability of mining Monero depends on the following aspects:

• the number of coins already issued;
• hashrate task in the network;
• company, quality of equipment and its settings;
• cost of production (computer, payment for electrician, maintenance of farms).

Where to buy and how to store Monero? XMR Wallet

Buying a coin with high anonymity is available on many cryptocurrency exchanges, exchangers and P2P platforms on the Internet. Also on such platforms, you can always track the Monero rate or the value of XMR/USD. Here are the best sites where you can buy Monero:

• can be purchased for fiat money on EXMO;
• for cryptocurrency on the Binance exchange;
• on the Buycoin.online exchanger;
• Huobi;
• OKX;
• Poloniex;
• Gate.io
• as well as on the Buycoin.online exchange service!

In order to save the Monero cryptocurrency, you need to decide on an electronic wallet. If you are wondering:  «Where can I get an official Monero wallet?», then we advise you to familiarize yourself with their variations. There is virtual storage on the website of the project itself, hardware wallets, mobile apps and GUI wallets. Here are the most commonly used Monero wallets:

• Universal wallet Coinomi. It is famous for the fact that at the time of 2021 it did not have a single hack or information leak. It is one of the safest.
• Multi-currency wallet Exodus, which has access to more than 100 tokens and cryptocurrencies in its arsenal. Can function on both PC and mobile phone.
• Cake Wallet, Edge and Monerujo mobile wallets. These wallets support QR code payments and deposits and can work in tandem with other wallets. Available for download on Android and IOS. They support not only XMR, but also BTC and LTC.

Monero forecast

Monero remains one of the leading coins to this day, which has a large community. The programmers and developers of the project decided to develop improvements to the algorithms of the coin at least once every six months in order to improve the level of customer service, as well as to maintain maximum data confidentiality during transactions.

Throughout the life of the coin, both bullish and bearish trends could be observed, which is typical for many cryptocurrencies and is considered an absolute norm. The price of XMR then fell, then returned back to its previous position.

If we talk about the prospects for the development of this project, we need to take into account the moment with possible sanctions that receive anonymous cryptocurrencies from the state. However, many countries are already starting to accept cryptocurrencies as a full-fledged means of payment for goods, services and purchases, as well as putting cryptocurrencies on a par with fiat money. Therefore, there will definitely be further development of the project, because a huge number of users have already given XMR their preference.