What Is Monero (XMR) How It Works & Where To Buy It?

Monero (XMR) is a privacy-oriented cryptocurrency and blockchain. It ensures that users have a selection of privacy options, making the project unique from other blockchains.

The Monero project started in 2014 and has seen significant user adoption since its inception. The project is highly respected and the Monero community believes that Monero is the purest and most decentralized cryptocurrency.

Monero (XMR) is currently the 32nd largest cryptocurrency in the world by market cap.

 

How Monero (XMR) Works

Monero is open-source and prioritizes the privacy of users. Monero transactions can be confidential transactions, according to the privacy features that the user selects.

The privacy of users is achieved through ring confidential transactions and stealth addresses. The ring signatures allow users to conceal their identities – this is seen as especially favorable for decentralization maximalists.

Essentially, ring signatures are untraceable to the sender’s identity – the identity of a person in the group is masked by using these anonymous digital signatures.

Stealth addresses are another key privacy feature in the Monero network – they’re one-time addresses that are generated for users. Ultimately, they enable the concealment of the destination address of a certain transaction.

Ring confidential transactions (RingCT) are an innovative advancement in privacy-enhancing technologies. They allow the transaction amounts to be concealed for every transaction occurring on the Monero blockchain.

Additionally, the Monero mining process is a lot simpler than most other blockchains – users can simply utilize their CPU as opposed to the expensive rigs required for mining other cryptocurrencies.

 

What Is Monero (XMR) Used For?

Monero developers envisioned a privacy-oriented blockchain that allows users to interact with anonymity. When Monero launched in 2014 it quickly positioned itself as a favorable option for individuals seeking to remain anonymous when performing transactions.

Since then, XMR transactions have been significantly less traceable than competitors – this has been the main value proponent of Monero.

Additionally, individuals have endeavored to mine Monero because it is much more affordable than mining other cryptocurrencies. The electronic cash, or digital cryptocurrency, XMR, has also experienced an appreciation in trading volume and price since 2014.

It was initially listed at just under $2 and saw its all-time high of $483 in September 2021. Many traders take advantage of the cryptocurrencies’ price volatility to generate profits.

 

Where To Buy Monero (XMR)

Monero (XMR) has experienced a price appreciation of more than 20,000% since 2014. The cryptocurrency is frequently traded on reputable cryptocurrency exchanges and is generally seen as one of the most credible projects in the crypto space.

Before you’re able to purchase XMR tokens, you’ll need to deposit fiat money onto an exchange, and sequentially XMR tokens will be credited to your XMR digital wallet on the exchange.

The crypto exchanges below are the safest place where you can buy, sell, and store XMR tokens.

Five of the most popular crypto exchanges used in the US are:

1. Kraken
2. Coinbase
3. KuCoin
4. HTX
5. BitHumb

All of the above exchanges allow users to buy, sell, transfer and store XMR tokens in a digital wallet on the exchange. You can use your debit or credit card to purchase XMR tokens on centralized exchanges.

Individuals can also transfer their XMR tokens to a Monero GUI wallet.

 

FAQs About Monero (XMR)

How long has Monero (XMR) existed?

Monero was founded in April 2014 by Riccardo Spagni. The XMR token went live on exchanges and didn’t see much appreciation until August 2016.

After some controversial proposals from the founder, Monero was forked and continued operations under a new core team.

What’s controversial about Monero (XMR)?

Researching crypto projects is essential, it provides insights into who created the projects, what they’re being used for, and why they may or may not be worth investing in. Monero has been around for many years but there are some controversies surrounding the project.

Let’s take a look at the top two controversies surrounding Monero (XMR)

• Cyber criminals – Monero takes privacy very seriously, facilitating the concealment of transactional amounts and identity for XMR transactions. This has primed it to become a convenient choice for cyber criminals.Many cyber criminals use Monero to send and receive payments, and this has raised many regulatory concerns.
• The founder is in prison – Riccardo Spagni, the founder of Monero, is behind bars. Although the charges are unrelated to crypto, it still taints the reputation of the project. Riccardo, known as ‘fluffypony’ has been accused of defrauding Cape Cookies for more than $100,000.

How many Monero (XMR) tokens are there?

At the time of writing, XMR has a circulating supply of 18,111,881.06 XMR

The total supply of Monero (XMR) is 18,111,881.06 XMR

Can Monero (XMR) be mined?

Monero (XMR) is a mineable cryptocurrency. XMR, like Ethereum, can be mined.

However, the difficulty and start-up expense required to mine Monero are significantly more affordable than mining Ethereum. Individuals can use CPU to mine Monero.

Some centralized exchanges also offer rewards to XMR holders that choose to lock up their tokens for a certain duration.

What is the market cap of Monero (XMR)?

Monero (XMR) market cap is the total amount of coins in circulation multiplied by the current market price of XMR.

So, the market cap of Monero (XMR) is: 18,111,881.06 XMR x $255,87 = $4,63 billion (32nd largest market cap).

Monero (XMR) is a project that has garnered an immense amount of credibility and user adoption in the crypto space. Its native XMR coin has seen significant price appreciation since its inception in 2014.

It is currently one of the top 50 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization and continues to grow in popularity as the project attracts more investment and grows user adoption.

Be aware that the market cap fluctuates according to circulating supply and market price.

Biggest Competitors Of Monero (XMR)

Monero is among the only crypto projects that can truly claim that its pursuing decentralization – privacy is at the core of the project.

However, the project does have some competition. Most notably, the emergence of decentralized exchanges such as Uniswap and digital wallets like MetaMask are providing individuals with similar anonymity.

When considering the need for untraceable transactions and ensuring that users’ transactions remain anonymous – Uniswap, PancakeSwap, and MetaMask can be seen as significant competitors to Monero.

From a pure cost basis, it’s important to consider the current market cap of Monero and then compare other projects accordingly.

Monero is currently the 32nd largest cryptocurrency by market cap, therefore its closest competitors by market cap are:

• UNUS SED LEO (28th largest)
• Algorand (29th largest)
• Stellar (30th largest)
• ApeCoin (31st largest)

 

What Are The Future Plans For Monero (XMR)

Among the most exciting future plans for Monero are the network upgrades that will optimize scalability and security. This will be achieved through the implementation of layer-2 solutions and will benefit the network tremendously.

Another notable announcement recently made by the team is the proposed hard fork in July 2022. The hard fork will see version fifteen of Monero launched. The upgrades will contribute to improving the network’s scalability and security.

XMR’s price is nearly 50% lower than its all-time high of $483.

 

Pros And Cons Of Monero And XMR Token

Pros:

• ASIC-Resistant – Monero utilizes a unique proof of work algorithm called Random X. This ensures that individuals don’t require a significant amount of computational power to mine Monero. Unlike Bitcoin or Ethereum mining rigs which are capital intensive and generally don’t yield high rewards.
• Untraceable – Monero transactions are untraceable and this is one of the pros that has driven the greatest amount of utility to the project. Users can freely send or receive XMR while maintaining anonymity.
• Nominal transaction fees – Monero transaction fees are nominal in comparison to Ethereum. The average XMR transaction fee is $0.0023.
• Low supply – The total supply of Monero is slightly more than 18 million. This supply is much lower than the majority of cryptocurrencies on the market today. For example, Stellar (XLM) has a total supply of 50 billion.
• Store of value – Monero’s XMR token is seen as a store of value, much like Bitcoin. The low supply of Monero positions it as a store of value token, and many individuals purchase XMR tokens especially because of the low supply available.
• Monero has no block limitation – Monero incorporates a free block size method that is devoid of any hard restrictions on block size.

Cons:

• Complicated to use – For newbies in the crypto space, it may be seemingly difficult to navigate Monero. It is often labeled as a project that isn’t “beginner-friendly”. There are multiple keys involved in transactions and the processes required can be daunting to someone who is not too familiar with blockchain and crypto.
• Significant Competition – Although Monero has been around for many years, the project is facing competition from new projects entering the space, as well as older projects that are gaining popularity. The rapid growth of the blockchain space makes it especially difficult for projects to achieve success and major growth – Monero faces these challenges.It’s not currently part of the top 30 largest cryptocurrencies and therefore many individuals that are just starting their crypto journeys would likely be unaware of most projects besides the like of Bitcoin and the ten largest cryptocurrencies.