Talk:Monero

Suggested Page Structure

• History: Divide into two sections: P1(Creation) P2 (2016-2018)
• Create: Transactions Section
• Create: Mining Section
• Architecture: Move P5 into Mining
• Mining: Move P6 from History into Mining: Botnet Mining Software
• Create: Wallets Section
• Create: Network Upgrades Section
• Network Upgrades: Move P3 from History into Network Upgrades: Increase to Ring Size
• Create: Economics Section
• Create: Privacy Section
• Privacy: Move Transaction Linkability into Privacy: Transaction Linkability
• Create: Governance and Funding Section
• Create: Move P8 from History Governance and Funding: Organisation
• Create: Criticism Section
• Criticism: Move P5 from History into: Criticism: Illegal Hacking and Cryptocurrency Laundering
• Criticism: Move P4 from History into: Criticism: Circumvention of Censorial Control

Architecture

Cryptographic Protocol

Unlike many cryptocurrencies that are derivatives of Bitcoin, Monero is based on the CryptoNight proof-of-work hash algorithm, which comes from the CryptoNote protocol.[6] The CryptoNote protocol possesses significant algorithmic differences relating to blockchain obfuscation.[7] In particular, the ring signatures mix the spender's input with a group of others, making it exponentially more difficult to establish a link between each subsequent transaction.[3]

Additionally, "stealth addresses" generated for each transaction make it impossible to discover the actual destination address of a transaction by anyone else other than the sender and the receiver.[8] Finally, the "ring confidential transactions" mechanism hides the transferred amount.[9][3]

[//]: # (P5 moved to Mining)

History

Creation

[//]: # (from Architecture, P1)

In 2014 Bitcointalk forum user known as thankful_for_today forked the codebase of Bytecoin into the name BitMonero, which is a compound of Bit (as in Bitcoin) and Monero (literally meaning "coin" in Esperanto).[3] The release of BitMonero was very poorly received by the community that initially backed it. Plans to fix and improve Bytecoin with changes to block time, tail emission and block reward had all been ignored, and thankful_for_today simply disappeared from the development scene. A group of users led by Johnny Mnemonic decided that the community should take over the project, and five days later they did while also changing the name to Monero.[citation needed]

2016-2018

[//]: # (from Architecture, P2)

Due to its privacy features, Monero experienced rapid growth in market capitalization and transaction volume during the year 2016, faster and bigger than any other cryptocurrency that year. This growth was driven by its uptake in the darknet market, where people used it to buy stolen credit cards, guns, and drugs.[3] Two major darknet markets were shut down in July 2017 by law enforcement. [14] From the beginning, Monero has been used by people holding other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to break the link between transactions, with the other cryptocoins first converted to Monero, then after some delay converted back and sent to an address unrelated to those used before.

Transactions

Stealth Transaction Protocol

For each standard transaction on the Monero network, the Cryptonote protocol combines the sender's public spend key with their public view key to form a one-time private key which is then recombined with a number of foreign public keys to form an extrapolated value known as a key image that is used for signing the transaction.[27][28] When signed, the protocols allows for each transaction to enforce a ring size parameter which is equal to the transaction output plus the number of foreign outputs.[29]

Units

One Monero has twelve decimal places and follows a naming convention to describe each rounding. Similarly, each larger denomination is classified up to a factor of six.[30]

Denominations of Monero

Nme	Base 10
Piconero	10^-12	ɱ0.000000000001
Nanonero	10^-9	ɱ0.000000001
Micronero	10^-6	ɱ0.000001
Millinero	10^-3	ɱ0.001
Centinero	10^-2	ɱ0.01
Decinero	10^-1	ɱ0.1
Monero	10^0	ɱ1
Decanero	10	ɱ10
Hectonero	10^2	ɱ100
Kilonero	10^3	ɱ1,000
Meganero	10^6	ɱ1,000,000

Transaction Fees

Unlike many other cryptocurrencies which either have a fixed block-size or transaction systems which do not require transaction fees, Monero employs a dynamic block-size which scales from a minimum amount in relation to the transaction volume.[31][32] With recent upgrades to the underlying technology, the average transaction fee dropped significantly owing to the implementation of 'Bulletproofs signatures', a zero-knowledge proof verification system which increases efficiency in the way proofs are validated.[33]

Exchanges

Monero can be traded for many other digital assets with a wide range of exchange pairs on both proprietary and also decentralised exchanges, or 'DEX', however, currently, the majority of volume is currently traded on Bithumb, a Korean-based exchange.[34][35][36]

Mining

Hardware and Software Requirements

[//]: # (from Architecture, P5)

Monero is designed to be resistant to application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) mining, which is commonly used to mine other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.[10] [11] It can be mined somewhat efficiently on consumer grade hardware such as x86, x86-64, ARM and GPUs.[12][13]

Solo Mining

Through using the Monero CLI or GUI, Monero can be 'solo mined' directly from a computer on a wide-range of operating systems.[37][38] Throughout 2018, the Monero developer community decided to implement to a number of network upgrades which have altered the mining algorithm to maintain ASIC resistance and ensure mining can be achieved on the widest possible range of hardware.

Pool Mining

Due to the low level of technical requirements, and Monero's committed stance to remain ASIC resistant, it continues to be one of the most popular cryptocurrencies to be mined by home mining enthusiasts.[39] A wide range of mining pools and third-party developers offer software which are available for certain operating-systems and distributions, some of which may require developer fees.[40][41]

Botnet Mining Software

[//]: # (Lead in)

As a result of the relatively low-tech hardware specifications required to mine the Monero blockchain..

[//]: # (from History, P6)

malicious hackers have previously embedded Monero mining code into websites and apps seeking profit for themselves.[18] In late 2017 malware and antivirus service providers blocked a JavaScript implementation of Monero miner Coinhive that was embedded in websites and apps, in some cases by hackers. Coinhive generated the script as an alternative to advertisements; a website or app could embed it, and use website visitor's CPU to mine the cryptocurrency while the visitor is consuming the content of the webpage, with the site or app owner getting a percentage of the mined coins.[19] Some websites and apps did this without informing visitors, and some hackers implemented it in way that drained visitors' CPUs. As a result the script was blocked by companies offering ad blocking subscription lists, antivirus services, and anti-malware services.[20][18]

Wallets

Full Nodes

The CLI and GUI full-node wallets developed my the Monero developers are the standard way of sending and receiving transactions, and also storing Monero and is considered a secure method to hold funds independent of third party exchanges or via web-wallets. As with many other cryptocurrencies, using full-node wallets is also helps to build network security through downloading and uploading the blockchain to other nodes on the network.

Light Wallets

Light wallets are more convenient and secure alternatives to using a full-node, as with web wallets, users must rely on proprietary web browsers which in certain situations may present difficulties for ensuring data is encrypted during transmission. Some light wallets now offer a greater amount of cross platform support, including both desktop and mobile versions.[42]

Hardware Wallets

Currently Monero is supported on two proprietary hardware wallets, the Ledger Nano S and Nano X, which provide wallets that interact with the Monero blockchain, offering another way of securing funds.[43]

Network Upgrades

Increase to Ring Size

[//]: # (from History, P3)

On January 10, 2017, the privacy of Monero transactions was further strengthened by the adoption of Bitcoin Core developer Gregory Maxwell's algorithm Confidential Transactions, hiding the amounts being transacted, in combination with an improved version of Ring Signatures.[15]

Mining Algorithm

Throughout 2018, Monero has undergone a number of significant scheduled network upgrades, otherwise known as forking the mining algorithm, whilst some have been 'hard-forks' others upgrades have been 'soft-forks', both types are to ensure centralised (ASIC) mining remains less likely. This has threatened the security of several other blockchains via '51% attacks' also known as 'double-spending'.[44][45]

Economics

Block reward trajectory

To incentivise mining indefinitely, mining rewards will gradually drop until tail emission commences which is expected to happen in 2022 when rewards will be fixed at 0.6 XMR per block.[33][46] This design feature is expected to give Monero a stable and predictable inflation rate.[48]

Fungibility

Monero is said to be fungible because it is private by default and units of Monero cannot be discriminated by vendors or exchanges due to the origin or history of Monero funds.[50]

Scalability

Monero’s [dynamic block size] changes based on transaction volume to provide lower fees and faster transactions. [51] Higher transaction volume leads to larger block size limit, whereas low volume leads to a smaller block size limit. 'Bulletproofs', a zero-knowledge transaction verification protocol, implemented in the last major network upgrade version, 'Beryllium Bullet' also helps scalability by significantly reducing transaction size and fees, making Monero stand out among other cryptocurrencies.[52]

Governance and Funding

Organisation

Monero's governance structured is relatively looser than many other cryptocurrency projects.[33][47][N22]

[//]: # (from History, P8)

As of May 2018 Monero was led by 7 members, 49 developers and 3 researchers, with the unofficial figurehead of pseudonymous Luigi1111.[citation needed]

Funding

The launch of Monero in April 2014 was pre-announced. There was no pre-mine or “insta”-mine, and no portion of the block reward goes to development.[53] therefore, development and research mainly relies on public donations. It is estimated that over 1.2 million USD value (65,000 XMR) was raised and directed to R&D initiatives.[49]

Cryptojacking

Cryptojacking is not the same thing as montero. I don't want to start an edit war, so please explain why my edit was reverted. - -MartinThoma (talk) 13:38, 1 October 2020 (UTC)

"Cryptojacking" listed at Redirects for discussion

A discussion is taking place to address the redirect Cryptojacking. The discussion will occur at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2020 October 2#Cryptojacking until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. Ivanvector (^Talk/_Edits) 16:25, 2 October 2020 (UTC)

"Cryptojacking" listed at Redirects for discussion

A discussion is taking place to address the redirect Cryptojacking. The discussion will occur at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2020 December 21#Cryptojacking until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. Aasim (talk) 08:16, 21 December 2020 (UTC)

Regulatory Responses

Should point out the law firm Perkins-Coie's analysis of regulatory compliance of Monero, published on 2020-09-15. https://www.perkinscoie.com/en/news-insights/anti-money-laundering-regulation-of-privacy-enabling-cryptocurrencies.html 84.203.30.25 (talk) 22:29, 26 December 2020 (UTC)