Monero: A promising altcoin with perfect anonymity
Monero entered the year 2017 with outstanding results — its capitalization had grown by 40 times by the end of 2016. Kraken — a well-established exchanged service from California — launched three new pairs with Monero: XMR/BTC, XMR/USD and XMR/EUR.
Kraken representatives claim that Monero is one of the most promising altcoins. It has exceeded the most optimistic expectations of the investors and more than that Money keeps on growing! The world of cryptocurrencies is unpredictable and ever-changing. Who knows how long Monero can stay on the top, but it's obvious that now it is high time to create an account and start trading.
Why people choose Monero
Security is not just a mere word but the most important thing for anyone working with cryptocurrencies. No matter if you buy or sell you want all your operations to be secure and anonymous.
Monero is known for the use of one-time ring signature and stealth addresses — technologies providing nearly 100% anonymity. No one will know who buys or sells coins as well as the amount and other transaction details.
The creators of Monero have quite a challenging goal. They want to destroy the barrier between single miners and mining pool — according to them every user should have an opportunity to obtain Monero coins.
Technical specifications of Monero exclude the opportunity of ASIC mining — that's another reason why PC users like Monero more and more.
As a young cryptocurrency launched in 2014 Monero is still relatively easy to mine. One can also use CPU+GPU combination to distribute load properly.
Monero is based on the algorithm called "CryptoNight". It's a new light algorithm which is totally different from the one of Bitcoin. It doesn't require a heavy and bulky system for providing full anonymity.
Finally, today Monero is on the rise and traders are eager to invest in it hoping to earn. It's hard to say for how long Monero will be on the top but it only makes everything even more interesting!
Let's start!
Firstly you need to install the latest version of Monero wallet — it's not an easy thing since you will need to choose the most suitable Monero client. We highly recommend you visit Monero website and go to the Getting Started page. You will see that there are pretty many options for Monero client installation.
You may get the official one — a Mobile, Web, Light or Full client. However there are also third-party applications which are also offered on the Monero website. We suggest you getting one of the clients enlisted there. If you download a client from another source Monero cannot guarantee that it will be safe and secure.
All Windows users will see the warning notification upon double-clicking the downloaded client. Just ignore it — the application will not bring any harm to your operation system. It would be also useful if you go to the firewall settings and add the client into exclusions. Otherwise you will need to confirm the Internet connection every time you switch the client on.
Each client includes all necessary tools like e-wallet (a new wallet is created automatically after the first launch), information panel and many other things a trader may consider useful. Then the client will ask you to enter your password. Don't worry if the app freezes for a while — it's necessary to establish all connections.
Basically if you already have experience in working with any other e-wallets of cryptocurrencies there will be nothing difficult for you. All Monero clients work on the same principle.
The only thing we'd like to warn about is outgoing transaction. To put it short each transaction in Monero system is divided into smaller transactions which are then mixed with each other and other users' transactions — that's how the highest level of anonymity is provided.
Therefore it may happen sometimes that a bit bigger amount of funds is taken from your wallet. Don't panic! Only the sum you wanted to send will be transferred eventually. The exceeding amount will return to your wallet right after your transfer reaches a blockchain. It may take up to several minutes so there's really nothing to worry about. Again — that's how the system provides security and anonymity.
For sending or receiving transfers you will need an e-wallet address which is a long combination of letters and digits. Copy and paste your wallet address if you want to receive money. If you are going to make an outgoing transaction — copy and paste the address of the recipient's wallet. That's it. Looks simple, doesn't it?
In the bottom of the transaction window you will see Payment ID box. It can be useful if you want someone to be sure that it was you who sent the money. Enter any combination of digits and characters there and share it with the recipient. But please, don't make the mistake of all beginners — don't confuse Payment ID and e-wallet address. These are two absolutely different things!
Actually, that is all that may be said regarding basic functionality of any Monero wallet. It is very easy-to-use and fast, what more could one need?
Conclusion
The breakthrough made by Bitcoin makes everyone envy. That is why developers creating new cryptocurrencies always claim that they have made "a killer of Bitcoin". The same was said about Monero in the beginning. But let's be honest, despite Monero is really a promising cryptocurrency with lots of advantages it cannot be seriously compared to Bitcoin. Bitcoin is just unbeatable and none of altcoins can steal its leadership. At least for now.
From the other hand Monero is a worthy option for making investment. If you are thinking about diversifying your portfolio Monero could be a decent cryptocurrency to trade. We'd suggest then considering it in the short run as its growth is incredibly fast so the drop can be steep too.
Those who have just discovered the new world of cryptocurrencies may also try to earn something on Monero. Don't invest too much, set up sail to every wind and you will definitely benefit!
