Monero (Monero) - Cryptocurrency based on the CryptoNote protocol, focused on increased anonymity of transactions. The cryptocurrency appeared on April 18, 2014 as a fork of Bytecoin (not Bitcoin). When it turned out that more than 80 % of the maximum amount of Bytecoin already distributed, the community decided to re-release under the name "Monero", starting with zero pre-mining. Anonymity has led to accusations that Monero can be used for drug trafficking, distribution of child pornography, etc.
Monero was launched on April 18, 2014 and was originally called BitMonero, combining Bit (Bitcoin) and Monero (Coin) in the name. Unlike many network currencies, which are derivatives of Bitcoin, it is based on a protocol with the principle of blockchain obfuscation. This algorithm is called CryptoNote, and its modular code has been highly praised by Bitcoin programmers.
After 2 years, discussions appeared on financial forums: "Why is Monero growing ... How to start working with the Monero wallet ... Can Monero replace Bitcoin ... Where is it more profitable to exchange ... How to invest ...". What caused this interest?
By the beginning of December 2015, the Monero to Bitcoin exchange rate was 0.00097. After 9 months, by September 2016, this ratio increased 27 times and was quoted as 0.0265. Considering that Bitcoin grew by almost 50% over this period - from 430 per 1 unit to 610 dollars, the actual growth of Monero was about 4000%!
Bottom line - in 2016, the Monero currency showed an unprecedented growth in market capitalization, from a little less than 5 million to almost 135 million dollars.
At the moment, Monero is one of the ten most traded crypto coins, ranking 8th in terms of a combination of evaluation factors.
REASONS FOR MONERO CRYPTOCURRENCY POPULARITY
Three factors contributed to the credibility of the new currency:
1. Integration with the darknet AplhaBay - top web market and not only. Monero was also included in the settlement system:
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AppStore - one of the sections with applications for mobile devices of the electronic store;
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The iTunes Store added XMR to the list of transfer methods in the fall of 2016;
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the legitimacy of this currency was recognized by the global consortium Oasis, which manages e-commerce standards;
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SIGAINT postal service accepted for payment.
2. The growing demand for private digital currencies was an independent background and became a logical consequence.
3. Reliable encryption, providing a high degree of security - the Proof-of-work algorithm is used in the functioning of Monero, which proves the performance of the work, and in addition:
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the hashing algorithm itself Cryptonight;
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a unique protocol for creating a one-time address that hides all information about the account and its owner;
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digital algorithms 100% protect electronic coins from hacking.
Another advantage can be considered an innovative ring signature system, which acts as a public key mixer and eliminates the identification of any participant in the chain.
Effective January 10, 2017, the privacy of Monero transactions has been enhanced with an option using the Bitcoin algorithm. The main developer of the system of secrecy of transactions G. Maxwell. The hard fork has been applied to the chain starting from block 1220516. The ring signature algorithm has been changed so that there is no display of the number of persons involved in transactions with participants outside the system.
An improved version of ring signatures is called RingCT, additionally it allows you to hide the amounts, their origin and purpose. The RingCT transaction works by default, but until September 2017 you can still make transfers without additional protection.
MONERO CRYPTOCURRENCY FACTS
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The Monero project was developed without funding by a group of programmers as a hobby.
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The encryption basis was laid by mathematician D. Bernstein (USA).
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Kraken, a major San Francisco-based exchange, launched Monero trading with Bitcoin, USD and EUR in early 2017.
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An unlimited number of coins is provided for the release. The initial issue will be 18.400 million coins, which will take 8 years - until the end of May 2022. After that, only miners will support the system - it will take 120 seconds to open a new block, and the reward will be 0.6 Monero.
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The eighth place in the rating of electronic money Monero takes according to the criteria:
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liquidity - 78%;
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social media support 52%;
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activity in improving the source code - 85%.
The leaders in popularity among digital coins are Bitcoin and Ethereum. It is noteworthy that Monero is slightly inferior to the following currencies - Ripple, Litecoin and Dagcoin only in terms of popularity in the social environment and is quite capable of getting into the top three in the near future.
Detailed review of MONERO cryptocurrency
A detailed overview of the Monero cryptocurrency since its inception. The video provides all the information necessary for those wishing to invest in this cryptocurrency. Wallets, algorithm and anonymity.
MONERO MINING ALGORITHM
The CryptoNight Monero algorithm is designed to support viable mining with a computer processor, although GPU mining is the only profitable method at this stage.
There are no dedicated hardware ASICs for mining Monero yet. The mining algorithm itself actively uses AES or Randal (Rijndael) - a symmetric method of block encryption for microprocessors.
Avoid resources with aggressive advertising, bright design and the promise of high rewards. Such "pools" are 100% HYIPs, and have nothing to do with digital mining.
For mining from the official site, you need to download the software, which consists of 2 files - bitmonerod and simplewallet:
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unzip with the command "extract all" and save on the hard drive;
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run MoneroClient.Net.exe, and a system warning may appear, you should ignore it;
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if access to the Network is blocked, you need to enable the Private networks option;
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together with the running client Monero, a wallet and a daemon (simplewallet and bimonerrod) will work;
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on MoneroClient.Net.exe, right-click to bring up a menu. Here you can make the settings "for yourself".
Documents should be regularly backed up and stored independently of a PC. This operation is performed by the Backup Manager command on the selected file, and there is also an automatic self-saving mode in the client settings.
PROSPECTS FOR MONERO CRYPTOCURRENCIES
3 factors will influence the price of Monero in the future:
1. List of suppliers of goods and services using Monero for payments. Remembering that the tremendous growth in the cryptocurrency rate in 2016 coincided with its adoption for the AppStore calculations, similar plans of other large electronic players will be a positive signal of Monero price changes. Currently, the currency is more used for exchange operations with crypto coins.
2. The advantage over Bitcoin in terms of anonymity must be proven over time. The upcoming upgrade in September 2017 may attract new interest in the currency, perhaps some participants in the e-commerce market are expecting this event. Bitcoin maximalists expect Monero to re-qualify as the father of all cryptocurrencies. The Monero developers probably have other ideas.
3. Even having succeeded as an economic instrument and retained its competitiveness with Bitcoin, Monero may still not have enough existing emission for full participation in crypto-commerce, which will serve as a limitation to its acceptance for calculations.