Monero

Monero, also known as XMR, is a proof-of-work GPU/CPU-mining-friendly privacy-focused cryptocurrency.

Due to the untraceability of its transactions, low fees and ease of mining, Monero has surpassed Bitcoin and become the most used cryptocurrency for transactions.

History

Monero was originally conceptualised as CryptoNote v2, a protocol designed to solve problems with Bitcoin, by pseudonymous Nicolas van Saberhagen in 2013. In the whitepaper, Nicolas described privacy and anonymity as "the most important aspects of electronic cash" and characterised Bitcoin's traceability as a "critical flaw".. The project was brought to light as the coin BitMonero by user thankful_for_today on the Bitcointalk forum. However, other forum users who disagreed with his direction forked the project, which led to the development of Monero in 2014. Monero has the third largest community of developers for a cryptocurrency, after Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Use case

Monero is typically used for anonymous donations and darknet purchases.

While Bitcoin transactions are monitored by intelligence agencies, Monero transactions are scrambled using a ring signature, and become untraceable for any observers.

Mining is feasible with a normal high-spec computer, without needing a Chinese ASIC farm to mine, as is the case for Bitcoin.

Since getting cancelled by payment processors and banks, many dissident individuals and groups such as Christopher Cantwell, Andrew Anglin, Thomas Sewell, the Nordic Resistance Movement and Democratie Participative have switched to and started recommending Monero.

Price history

Since Monero's inception, there have been two large price spikes:

• November 2017-February 2018: from ~$100 to a peak of $542.33
• March 2021-June 2021: from ~$210 to a peak of $475.55

Between June 2022 and November 2024, the price averaged around $140, oscillating from $110 to $170. The price has been steadily increasing since December 2024.

Government crackdowns

Due to its privacy features, ZOG has gone on the offensive to make it harder to buy and trade using Monero. Currently, Australia, South Korea, the European Union, and several other governments and institutions are applying legal pressure on crypto exchanges in an attempt to slow down its adoption rate by the general public.

In 2024, cryptocurrency exchanges Binance and Kraken started to delist Monero for users in some countries, citing new regulations in these countries, and giving their users a limited number of months to withdraw or convert their Monero, before it would become completely unavailable to them.

Monero is still available for purchase on Kraken for United States residents.

The European Union, starting from 2027, will prohibit banks and exchanges from maintaining accounts associated with privacy-preserving coins such as Monero. This will not stop users from purchasing and using Monero.

Despite regulatory efforts, Monero will continue to rise in popularity, as unlike a bank account or a Bitcoin address, it is unbannable and untraceable.