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Monero: The Secured and Untraceable Cryptocurrency

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Monero

Since the advent of Bitcoin in 2008, a large number of cryptocurrencies have come up by 2018 and many are on the line. Monero, launched in April 2014, like the other cryptocurrencies, is based on the blockchain technology.

The Story behind the Origin of Monero

The first real-life application of CryptoNote, Bytecoin was launched in July 2012. The application layer protocol, CryptoNote supports several decentralized cryptocurrencies. CryptoNote differs from the application protocol that fuels Bitcoin in several aspects. It was observed that Bytecoin was often used to conduct trades. By that time almost 80% of the crypto coin was published. The developers then decided to fork the Bytecoin blockchain and the newly formed coin would be named Bitmonero. Later, it was renamed as Monero. A block is mined every two minutes in the Monero blockchain.

Monero has gone through substantial improvement phases since its launch in 2014. Monero currently has a team of seven core developers and five of them continue to remain anonymous.

Basic Features of Monero

  • Monero respects privacy thereby, uses cryptography to hide the sending and receiving addresses from the viewers in case of any transaction.
  • Monero offers fungibility where an individual unit of a currency can stand-in for another. Monero thus does not have to face the risk of censorship.
  • In case of Monero, the transaction process is easier and faster. People do not have to wait for multi-day holding periods for confirmation of one transaction. Also, the crypto coin is safe from ‘capital controls’.
  • Monero has multiple keys unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies. The public view key of Monero is used to generate the ‘one-time stealth public address’. It is the destination of the recipient. The private view key of Monero scans the blockchain for the recipient such that s/he can access it. The second part of the Monero address is called public spend key. The address length of Monero is 95 characters that include the public view and public spend keys.

The privacy of the sender and the receiver in case of Monero blockchain is maintained by ring signatures. The role of the ring signatures is to combine the user’s account keys with the public keys received from the Monero blockchain. This way the outsiders cannot link a user to a signature.

  Monero Bitcoin
Founder Group of 7 core developers Satoshi Nakamoto (pseudonym)
Release Date 18 April 2014 9 January 2008
Total Coin Supply 18.4 million XMR + 0.3 XMR/minute 21 million
Blockchain Protocol Proof of Work Proof of Work
Usage Digital Currency Digital Currency
Privacy Untraceable Yes
Trackable No Yes
Cryptocurrency Symbol XMR BTC
Transaction Fee 0.004-0.02 XMR/kB Varies based on load on blockchain
Algorithm CryptoNote SHA-256
Blocks Time 120 seconds At least 10 minutes
Mining GPUs, CPU Pools, ASIC miners
Scalable Yes Yes

 

Reasons to Choose Monero over Bitcoin

  • Mining algorithm

Mining is the process through which the cryptocurrency miners run a program on the computer that verifies and confirms the transactions. The Bitcoin mining algorithm runs faster on ASICs (custom made mining chips) compared to desktops and laptops. It is clear that a person cannot take part in the mining process of Bitcoin unless they have access to ASICs. The power consumed in the Bitcoin mining process is quite high. To solve these issues, the mining algorithm of Monero was designed such that the ASICs do not have any such advantage over ordinary computers. This way the general public can take part in the mining process of Monero and even earn the crypto coin. They will just have to run the mining software on their home computers and solve the puzzle. Anyone having a Monero wallet can start mining on their desktops or laptops by simply clicking on a single button.

  • Block size limit

The transactions appear as a part of the block when it is proclaimed to the Monero or Bitcoin network. The time taken to create a new block for Monero is approximately 2 minutes whereas that of the Bitcoin blocks is approximately 10 minutes. In case the Bitcoin block has reached its limit, the next transaction will take a considerable amount of time to be confirmed. If it is an urgent case then, the interested person will have to increase the transaction fees (paid to the Bitcoin network). The developers of Monero have designed the crypto coin in such a way that it features an automatically adaptive block size limit. This means that the blocks will expand to accommodate higher transaction volumes.

  • Incorporation of the ‘invisible internet project’ I2P layer into Monero

The ‘invisible internet project’ I2P layer will enhance the privacy features of the Monero blockchain during a transaction. It will also add a protective layer to prevent passive network monitoring. Therefore, the payments will remain untraceable. Moreover, people scanning the network will not even be able to say that a person is using Monero.

  • The design goals of the Monero developers

The designing and developing team of Monero have introduced some unique features to the world of cryptocurrency and their goals are ambitious.

The Monero coin holders have the option to keep their transaction history private. They can also choose share certain information. The view key of an account allows the Monero users to see the transaction history of that account. Monero’s USP thus lies in privacy, anonymity, and security of the transactions.

We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on XMR, sign up below!

Disclaimer: This article should not be taken as, and is not intended to provide, investment advice. Global Coin Report and/or its affiliates, employees, writers, and subcontractors are cryptocurrency investors and from time to time may or may not have holdings in some of the coins or tokens they cover. Please conduct your own thorough research before investing in any cryptocurrency.

Image courtesy of coinmarketcap.com

Altcoins

XNO Token of Xeno NFT Hub listed on Bithumb Korea Exchange

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Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 25th January, 2021, // ChainWire //

Xeno Holdings Limited (xno.live ), a blockchain solutions company based in Hong Kong, has announced the listing of its ecosystem utility token XNO on the ‘Bithumb Korea’ cryptocurrency exchange on January 21st 2021.

Xeno NFT Hub (market.xno.live ), developed by Xeno Holdings, enables easy minting of digital items into NFTs while also providing a marketplace where anyone can securely trade NFTs.

The Xeno NFT Hub project team includes former members of the technology project Yosemite X based in San Francisco and professionals such as Gabby Dizon who is a games industry expert and NFT space influencer based in Southeast Asia.

NFT(Non-Fungible Token) technology has recently gained huge focus in the blockchain arena and beyond, making waves in the online gaming sector, the art world, and the digital copyrights industry in recent years. The strongest feature of NFTs is that “NFTs are unique digital assets that cannot be replaced or forged”. Unlike fungible tokens such as Bitcoin or Ether, NFTs are not interchangeable for other tokens of the same type but instead each NFT has a unique value and specific information that cannot be replaced. This fact makes NFTs the perfect solution to record and prove ownership of digital and real-world items like works of art, game items, limited-edition collectibles, and more. One of the ways to have a successful…

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Altcoins

Should Crypto Projects Devote Resources to Community Growth and Marketing?

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2020 has been an incredible year for crypto as investors have generated windfall profits and crypto projects have seen their businesses gain the spotlight they’ve been looking for.  While Bitcoin has received most of the attention after major institutional investors announced they were accumulating the increasingly scarce asset, many altcoins have also seen their fair share of glory.  When looking at all the big winners of the past year, the first project that probably comes to mind is Chainlink, having appreciated by more than 550% YTD and now valued at over $4.5 billion.  But, the actual biggest winner of the year is HEX with a YTD return of over 5,000%.

I mention both of the above projects as they have each taken slightly different paths to achieve greatness.  Chainlink has devoted resources toward building a fundamentally sound business with many strategic partnerships while HEX has spent vast sums of money on marketing and promotion.  Both approaches are valid, but one thing is certain, it is absolutely imperative for crypto projects to let the crypto community know what makes them special.  Of course, one of the reasons that makes crypto so valuable is the powerful blockchain technology that most projects are utilizing.

Cryptocurrency vs. Blockchain Technology

It’s important to make a distinction between blockchain technology and cryptocurrency.  Although they are often used interchangeably, they are different.  Blockchain technology and crypto were both created after the 2008 financial crisis, but cryptocurrency…

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Altcoins

XENO starts VIP NFT trading service and collaborates with contemporary artist Hiro Yamagata

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Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 24th December, 2020, // ChainWire //

The XENO NFT Hub (https://xno.live) will provide a crypto-powered digital items and collectables trading platform allowing users to create, buy, and sell NFTs. Additionally it will support auction based listings, governance and voting mechanisms, trade history tracking, user rating and other advanced features.

As a first step towards its fully comprehensive service, XENO NFT Hub launched a recent VIP service to select users and early adopters in December 2020 with plans for a full Public Beta to open in June 2021. 

“NFTs are extremely flexible in their usage, from digital event tickets to artwork, and while NFTs have a very wide spectrum of uses and categories XENO will initially focus its partnership efforts and its own item curation on three primary areas: gaming, sports & entertainment, and collectibles.”, said XENO NFT Hub president Anthony Di Franco.

He also added “This does not mean we will prohibit other types of NFTs from our ecosystem However, it simply means that XENO’s efforts as a company will be targeted into these verticals initially as a cohesive business approach.”

Development and Procurement Lead, Gabby Dizon explained, “Despite our initial focus, we found ourselves with a unique opportunity to host some of the works of Mr. Hiro Yamagata. We are collaborating with Japanese artist Hiro Yamagata to enshrine some of his artwork into NFTs.”

Mr. Yamagata has…

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