What is Monero?
The most widely-used privacy cryptocurrency, using ring signatures, stealth addresses, and RingCT to make transactions untraceable by default.
Also known as: XMR
Monero is the largest and most battle-tested privacy coin, where all transactions are private by default.
Privacy Features
- Ring Signatures: Hide the sender among a group of possible signers
- Stealth Addresses: Generate one-time addresses for each transaction
- RingCT (Ring Confidential Transactions): Hide transaction amounts
- Dandelion++: Obscure the IP address of transaction broadcasters
Key Properties
- Privacy is mandatory, not optional (unlike Zcash)
- Fungible — every XMR is equal (no "tainted" coins)
- ASIC-resistant mining (RandomX algorithm)
- Dynamic block size — scales with demand
Acceptance
Monero is accepted by many privacy-focused services and is one of the payment options being considered for Default Privacy's credit system.
Compared to DERO
- Monero uses ring signatures; DERO uses homomorphic encryption
- Monero has no smart contracts; DERO has private smart contracts
- Monero has a larger user base and more exchange listings
- DERO has faster confirmation (~18s vs ~2min) and on-chain encrypted data
Related Terms
Privacy Coin
A cryptocurrency designed with built-in privacy features that hide transaction amounts, sender and receiver addresses, or both.
Ring Signatures
A cryptographic technique that allows someone to sign a message on behalf of a group, making it impossible to determine which group member actually signed.
Stealth Address
A technique where the sender generates a unique, one-time address for each transaction, preventing observers from linking transactions to the receiver.
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