Privacy coins were once in the trend, but are they still that? Let’s find out in this article about Monero, one of the most well-known privacy coins.
Monero is a well-known privacy coin.
Launched in 2014, its story originates in 2013 when a developer called Nicolas van Saberhagen published “CryptoNote v 2.0”, a whitepaper wherein he discussed Bitcoin’s drawbacks.
They, according to van Saberhagen, include the lack of true privacy and anonymity of BTC transactions – a problem that privacy coins like Monero are set to tackle.
According to its site, Monero is a “private, decentralized cryptocurrency that keeps your finances confidential and secure.” To do that, it uses an array of methods, including transactions over Tor/I2P, Dandelion++, RingCT, Stealth Addresses, and Ring Signatures.
Though they slightly differ, their overarching purpose is to make sure that traceability is reduced and privacy – enhanced. For example, Ring Signatures involve several people signing a transaction to obscure their identities. Meanwhile, RingCT hides the amount being wired. So-called stealth addresses are essentially new addresses created every time users make a transaction. Tor/I2P uses an anonymous network to protect the privacy of transaction sources while Dandelion++ conceals node-associated IP addresses.
So, with all of that said, how is Monero doing?
Data from Chainalysis suggests that the privacy coin – despite its controversiality that resulted in Bittrex, BitBay, and Huobi exchanges delisting it due to different regulatory bans – is doing quite well.
As of May 2023, its market capitalization stands at almost $2.8 billion.
Monero transactions per year. Source: Chainalysis
Between 2014-2023, the number of transactions has been steadily on the rise, peaking in 2021 at $8.8 million.
Its main competitors Zcash and Dash are significantly lagging behind with market caps of $600 million and $550 million, respectively.
Data from Coinmarketcap also shows that in spite of market fluctuations, Monero’s price over the years has increased, peaking at just under $500 in 2021. At the time of writing Monero is trading at $153.95.
Monero price dynamics since its inception. Source: Coinmarketcap
The respective numbers for Zcash and Dash are $33.44 and $42.27
On a non-financial side, the coin also seems to have robust communities on social media and beyond. Their Twitter handle currently has 482.6K followers.
They also have a number of workgroups designed to advance Monero’s developments, such as a community workgroup, development workgroup, website workgroup, and more.
Even though Monero is slightly problematic due to malignant actors using it for illicit purposes, it is still developing and is available on major exchanges like Kraken, Whitebit, and Binance.
Are you a Monero fan? Let us know on Twitter.
Previously, GNCrypto explored the price of personal data.
