Monero

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Monero
Monero-Logo.svg
symbol XMR
Publishing year 2014
Blockchain 61 GB (as of 05/2020)
Mining RandomX
Website getmonero.org

Monero (XMR) is a decentralized, blockchain- based cryptocurrency , comparable to Bitcoin . In contrast to Bitcoin, however, Monero has a stronger focus on the privacy ( anonymity ) of its users and takes a different approach to scalability . The word "monero" is taken from the Esperanto language and means "coin".

Monero is based on the CryptoNote protocol, which is in contrast to many other crypto currencies that, such as Litecoin, are based on a code split off from Bitcoin. In practice, Monero stands out from most other cryptocurrencies due to its strong anonymity, the Proof-of-Work algorithm called RandomX, which is optimized for commercially available processors , the continuous adjustment of the mining difficulty and the algorithm for adjusting the block size (scalability). Monero's code received recognition from, among others, Wladimir J. van der Laan, one of the current maintainers of Bitcoin-Core .

As of October 27, 2018, Monero had a market capitalization of over $ 1.7 billion (on December 3, 2015, it was below $ 3.8 million) and it has so far exceeded 16 million XMR (Monero currency units ) generated.

properties

A graphical representation of ring signature tracking.

Divisibility of the currency units

Monero (XMR) can be divided up to 12 decimal places, i. H. the smallest currency unit is 0.000 000 000 001 XMR = 10 −12 XMR.

Mining algorithm and decentralization

The Proof-of-Work algorithm RandomX used is characterized by the fact that, in contrast to the sha256 algorithm from Bitcoin or the scrypt algorithm from Litecoin, it is very memory-intensive and therefore particularly for widespread general-purpose hardware ( CPUs , GPUs and RAM from commercially available PCs ) is suitable, while the development and manufacture of special hardware ( ASICs ) is hardly worthwhile. In the event of technological changes in this regard, it is to be expected that the mining algorithm will be changed accordingly (via hard fork , see below) in order to remain true to the philosophy of ASIC-free and the associated decentralized mining.

Block interval and difficulty adjustment

The target interval for block generation is two minutes (after it was one minute until the end of March 2016, with the mining reward doubled to date ), in contrast to Bitcoins 10 minutes.

Monero's mining difficulty adapts continuously and not just at two-week intervals, as is the case with Bitcoin.

Issue plan and inflation

The amount of new digital money generated per block, the mining reward , falls continuously from block to block and not gradually as with Bitcoin, which is abruptly halved every four years. The nominal block reward (in XMR units) is calculated from the total amount of money A emitted so far (in atomic units, i.e. 10 12 times the amount of money in XMR) using the formula

  • Nominal Block Reward (in XMR) = round down (( M - A ) / 2 19 ) / 10 12 , where M = 2 64 -1.

As soon as the amount of money emitted to date reaches 18.132 million XMR and thus the Block Reward according to the formula falls below 0.6 XMR (expected in mid-2022), the nominal Block Reward will forever be 0.6 XMR per 2-minute block (i.e. 157788 XMR / Year), the so-called tail emission , frozen. Around the year 2040, the amount of Moneros will surpass that of Bitcoins and exceed the number of 21 million and e.g. B. in the year 2130 (2300) the amount of money generated will be around 35 (62) million XMR.

Money limit as a result of the emissions plan

With the start of the tail emission of 157,788 XMR p. a. from around mid-2022 with an emitted money supply of 18.132 million XMR, the nominal money supply growth is initially 0.87% p. a., will subsequently fall continuously due to the continuously increasing total number of issued money and converge towards 0% in the long term.

Since Moneros will be lost again and again for user reasons (loss of private keys, hardware defects, missing backups), the tail emission mechanism could in the long term establish an approximate balance between the rate of lost and newly generated coins. This means that Monero could be viewed as a currency with a stable money supply in the long term, despite the permanent generation of new currency units.

Anonymity and data protection

The CryptoNote protocol uses ring signatures and stealth addresses . This has a number of consequences:

Stealth addresses are hidden insofar as the incoming and outgoing money to a known address is not publicly visible in the blockchain . This is only possible with the private key or with the help of a viewkey , which the owner of the private key can optionally publish or pass on to a third party. Hence the term optionally transparent .

In Monero, ring signatures make it possible for transactions to be always (and not only optionally) strongly disguised and mixed up, so that tracking of money flows using blockchain analysis by third parties is very difficult to practically impossible. As a result, Monero currency units are considered genuinely exchangeable (English fungible ) and a blocking ( blacklisting ) of credits by miners can practically be ruled out.

Monero also uses encrypted amounts. In transactions, amounts are no longer transferred in a clear view, but encrypted with so-called Pedersen Commitments .

Block size and scaling

There is no general upper limit to the block size. However, a new block may only be twice as large as the median of the 100 previous blocks. In addition, the block reward actually paid out is reduced compared to the nominal block reward described above if a block is larger than this median and at the same time larger than 60 kB (this limit was 20 kB until the hard fork at the end of March 2016). The percentage reduction in the block reward is the square of the proportion by which the block size exceeds the median. For example, if the median is exceeded by [10%, 20%, 50%, 80%, 100%], the block reward is reduced by [1%, 4%, 25%, 64%, 100%]. This so-called block reward penalty is intended to ensure that the block size does not increase unnecessarily quickly, but is only increased by economically rational miners if the reduced block reward is compensated for by additional income from TX fees.

Due to the ring signatures, Monero transactions are significantly larger in data volume than Bitcoin transactions, which allows the blockchain to grow significantly faster than Bitcoin with the same transaction volume . So far (as of September 5, 2016) the transaction volume is much lower than with Bitcoin, so this is currently not significant.

Incompatible protocol changes (hard forks)

There have been successful changes to the protocol in the past, e.g. B. the mentioned change in the block interval from one to two minutes and the associated adjustment of the block reward in March 2016. In the future, further technical improvements are planned, most of them only with hard forks , i.e. protocol changes that are not backwards compatible , can be realized (as of September 5, 2016).

Such a hard fork takes place around every six months, in which the technical improvements of the past six months are activated.

developer

The core team consists of seven members, five of whom are anonymous (as of September 2016). There are also many other individual contributors.

Ransom note

On January 9, 2019, a ransom demand in cryptocurrency in Norway was first known - in the currency Monero. Another such demand in the millions u. a. with reference to Margarete Koppers took place on April 7, 2019 in Berlin. In addition, Monero is also used by ransomware to demand ransom.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://moneroblocks.info/stats
  2. ↑ Monero (XMR) price, charts, market cap, and other metrics | CryptoCurrency Market Capitalizations. Retrieved October 27, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Monero (XMR) market overview. Retrieved September 5, 2016 .
  4. ↑ Monero Blocks - XMR block explorer. In: moneroblocks.info. Retrieved October 27, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Monero blockchain explorer. In: chainradar.com. Retrieved October 27, 2018 (American English).
  6. ↑ Shen Noether, Sarang Noether: Monero is Not That Mysterious . Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  7. ↑ Monero: About Monero. In: getmonero.org, The Monero Project. Retrieved September 5, 2016 .
  8. ↑ Monero Difficulty Chart and Difficulty History Chart - CoinWarz. In: www.coinwarz.com. Retrieved September 5, 2016 .
  9. ↑ Useful For Learning About Monero: Coin Emission And Block Reward Schedules: Bitcoin vs. Monero, all at a glance! • / r / Monero. In: reddit.com. Retrieved September 5, 2016 .
  10. ↑ What are the basic parameters / characteristics of Monero • / r / Monero. In: reddit.com. Retrieved September 5, 2016 .
  11. ↑ Moneropedia: Pedersen commitment. Retrieved April 26, 2020 .
  12. ↑ Can someone explain how Monero deals with blocksize? I read it's not static like BTC. • / r / Monero. In: reddit.com. Retrieved September 5, 2016 .
  13. ↑ Block reward penalties and dynamic block size. In: monero.stackexchange.com. Retrieved September 5, 2016 .
  14. ↑ General information for the upcoming hardforks • / r / Monero. In: reddit.com. Retrieved September 5, 2016 .
  15. ^ Monero: The People Behind Monero. In: getmonero.org, The Monero Project. Retrieved September 6, 2016 .
  16. ↑ Kidnapping: Norwegian police are looking for millionaire's wife orf.at, January 9, 2019, accessed January 9, 2019.
  17. ↑ Sodinokibi Ransomware to stop taking Bitcoin to hide money trail. Retrieved April 26, 2020 (American English).