What Is Monero?

Launched in 2014, Monero, whose native currency is the XMR token, is a decentralized cryptocurrency that prioritizes anonymity. Unlike Bitcoin (which has serial numbers), XMR obscures details about senders, recipients, and the amount of crypto being transferred, using a mechanism of ring signatures. Via ring signatures, past transaction outputs are picked from the blockchain to serve as decoys, obfuscating the identities of the entities that signed the transactions. Moreover, stealth addresses ensure that transactions cannot be linked to one another. These features have positioned XMR as a leading currency in darknet markets and made Monero a target for federal regulation. Governments around the world, especially the U.S., have also offered hundreds of thousands of dollars to anyone who can crack Monero’s code.The network uses a consensus mechanism called CryptoNight, a proof-of-work (PoW) mechanism that thwarts the proliferation of large mining farms, allowing mining of XMR on everyday computer equipment and thereby fostering greater decentralization. In contrast to most cryptocurrencies, Monero did not hold an initial coin offering (ICO). A total of 18.4 million XMR is expected to be in circulation by May, 2022 at which point miners will be incentivized using “tail emissions,” whereby a small amount of XMR is fed into the system every 60 seconds as a reward. Seven developers were initially involved in creating Monero — five of whom decided to remain anonymous. XMR was the result of a fork from Bytecoin (BCN), but it is likely that hundreds of developers have contributed to XMR since then. The average block time for Monero is 30 minutes. See below for a full selection of markets where you can trade XMR for other cryptocurrencies, US dollars, and other fiat currencies.