What do you know about Monero, the ongoing black market cryptocurrency?
We learned that hackers were using YouTube ads to take over computers and force them to weaken cryptocurrencies. These types of attacks (known as cryptocurrencies) are becoming increasingly common, but a closer look at the practice reveals that it is usually tied to one particular currency: Monero.
Released in 2014, Monero was built to keep its users anonymous. According to a Wired report in early 2017, this made it a popular cryptocurrency thanks to the dark black markets of the web, where merchants accept it in exchange for stolen weapons, drugs, and credit cards.
But Monero went mainstream last year. According to CoinMarketCap, it is currently the 34th most valuable cryptocurrency in the world and is priced at $269.
Here's what you need to know about Monero, where it comes from, where it goes and how to buy some.
What is Monero?
Like bitcoin, the origins of Monero are a mystery. The cryptocurrency was first described in 2013 by Nicolas van Saberhagen, likely to be a nickname for an unknown creator (or group of creators). It was coded into existence by another anonymous creator with the username "thankful_for_tay" and named "Bitmonero" ("monero" means currency in Esperanto). In 2014, the coin came out, making the Monero coin that is popular today.
Monera was created to solve a specific problem with bitcoin: anonymity. It is possible to remain anonymous with bitcoin, but due to the way the blockchain works, all transactions are traceable from the accounts involved. It can also be seen how much bitcoin is deposited in one's account.
As long as you keep your identity secret, this isn't a problem, but once you tie your name to a bitcoin-related protocol, it's easy for other people to track you. This is a big problem if you are using bitcoin to do some illegal thing and here comes Monero.
Monero uses several methods to keep people anonymous. The first is a "stealth address," which means that your blocked address is encrypted, so it can no longer be associated with you. Monero groups each transaction with hundreds of others, making it hard to spot a particular sale and hide the amount of currency spent on each transaction.
What's next for Monero?
Beyond drug deals, Monero could help solve many other issues facing bitcoin as it has become commonplace. In the future, you may be able to pay your rent in cryptocurrency, but with bitcoin, the owner can track your account and see how much money you have. Monero keeps you anonymous so that the people you pay for are not deprived of your biggest financial picture.
Monero may also be on the verge of partnering with another growing cryptocurrency with a bit more name recognition. Litecoin founder Charlie Lee wrote on Twitter that he is interested in working with Monero to make the two currencies easier to exchange.
Meanwhile, Monero has a lot of competition. Dash (currently worth $204 per coin) uses a similar strategy of bundling transactions together to keep everyone anonymous. Zcash ($142 at the time of writing) takes anonymity a step further, claiming that its encryption makes it mathematically impossible to trace.
How to buy Monero?
You cannot buy Monero on Coinbase (the most popular digital currency exchange in the US), but there are many other options.
