Bitcoin, Ethereum, and most other cryptocurrencies have transparent blockchains. Using block explorers, anyone can see your balance, track your spending, and trace where your money goes.
Imagine if everyone could see your bank statement - that's how most cryptocurrencies work.
This lack of privacy introduces significant risks, from targeted theft to financial surveillance by governments and corporations.
Monero is the leading privacy-focused cryptocurrency where on-chain activity is private by default. The public can't see your balance or track you just by looking at the blockchain.
There's no "privacy mode" you have to turn on - every transaction uses privacy features automatically, while still letting you disclose details selectively when needed.
By not allowing transparent transactions, Monero prevents intermediaries from coercing users onto a surveilled ledger - because there is no transparent path to enforce in the first place.
Some label Monero as the currency for bad actors due to it's privacy - but that's like saying curtains are shady because they stop strangers from peering into your home.
Privacy is a basic human right. Monero protects that right.
Keep your salary, savings, and spending habits private from employers, businesses, and data brokers.
1 XMR is the same as any other - no concept of "tainted coins".
No central authority can deem your transactions unacceptable.
Accept payments without exposing your revenue, suppliers, or financial relationships to competitors.
Each transaction generates a unique, one-time address for the recipient, ensuring the receiver address never appears on the blockchain.
Based on: Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman
Full Chain Membership Proofs (FCMP++) are zero knowledge proofs that prove a payment used a real coin on the blockchain, without revealing which one - protecting the sender's privacy.
Based on: Curve Trees
Transaction amounts are encrypted, so only the sender and receiver know the value being transferred.
Based on: Pedersen Commitments and Bulletproofs+
In this 2020 presentation, Dr. Daniel Kim outlines how Monero works and why privacy-preserving sound money is important.
Monero has no centralized authority behind it - it's an open-source project maintained by hundreds of developers worldwide. The Monero Research Lab leads cutting-edge cryptography research, ensuring the protocol stays ahead of threats.
Since its launch in 2014, the project has received contributions from 500+ developers located all around the world.
