Monero is an open source cryptocurrency, running on the leading OS: Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and FreeBSD. Like Bitcoin, it is a secure, untraceable money transaction system.
Short Overview
Cryptocurrencies are evolutionary inventions of the modern economy. Monero (XMR) is one of them. It is one of the leading open source cryptocurrencies. Decentralization of authority, privacy, and scalability issues are its priorities. It runs on most operating system like Windows, MacOS, Android, Linux, FreeBSD, etc. It offers utmost privacy to the users by shrouding their identities and amounts of transactions, as well as maintaining distributive equity in mining.
History
Monero is based on the Cryptonote protocol which was instigated by pseudonymous author Nicolas Van Saberhagen in October 2013. ‘BitMonero’ was launched by a Bitcoin user forum known as “thankful_for_today,” and five days later the name was cut short to Monero.
Due to drawbacks in Cryptonote protocol, it was attacked and allowed the formation of two subchains denying the validity of transactions on each other. Cryptonote could find the problem, seal the leakage, and the solution was implemented by Monero.
It further strengthened the privacy issue, adopting the “Confidential Transactions” algorithm led forward by a Bitcoin core developer, Gregory Maxwell.
Features
- Security: Decentralism provides security for transactions. The user band operates the navigation of transactions, and they are recorded in the blockchain. No third party needs to be invited.
- Privacy: The blockchain maintains privacy in three ways.
1) Ring signatures put a shadow on the sender’s identity.
2) Stealth addresses help to obscure the receiver’s identity and the amount of the transaction.
3) Monero allows optional transparency as well as security to the wallet, providing two sets of keys: a “view key” and a “spend key”. - Transaction Linkability: In April 2017, multiple studies put forward some major threats to the privacy of users that include “Leveraging output Merging”, “Temporal Analysis” etc. A few days later, Monero development team introduced Ring Confidential Transactions, neutralizing the treats. Monero blockchain obfuscates the whereabouts of the users and the transactions. Therefore, the identities of users are untraceable.
Client Software
It is commonly known as a wallet and is required to interact with the network. The reference implementation was created by the Monero Project and can be split into three parts: the main software Daemon knew as Monerod, Monero wallet that is responsible for managing users’ accounts, and Monero-GUI which permits users to deal with the aforementioned components with a graphical user interface. It is now possible for Android users to be connected to the network with the help of a web wallet known as Monerujo.
Weaknesses of Monero
To a group of users who are very fond of maintaining privacy, Monero is 10/10. But every Achilles has heels. Critics have found a number of flaws that are not silly. Monero has to face issues like mining centralization, transaction size, development difficulties, limited merchant tools, and so on.
But sometimes the strength itself becomes the weakness. The facilities of privacy and intractability attract people involved in heinous crimes. Black money can easily be transacted without leaving any trace. The egalitarian mining process allows prying hackers to secretly embed the mining code into websites and apps.
Among 700+ cryptocurrencies, Monero holds a place in the top 10. It is catching the eye of developers and users due to the facilities and opportunities it provides for further development. Let’s hope that Monero will win more hearts and make its bright image permanent in the market.
