The Battle for Blockchain Privacy: Monero

Thanks for tuning in! This post is part of a broader series on blockchain technology. In prior posts, I’ve provided an overview of blockchain’s history and have explained how protocols, DApps and ICOs work.

Recently, I’ve turned my attention to the issue of blockchain privacy. My last article laid out an argument for why we need privacy coins and discussed how they may evolve in the future. My next few posts will get a bit more technical and break down how the top privacy protocols work, starting with Monero. Also, if you’re enjoying these posts and want future posts sent to your email, please subscribe to my distribution list! Alright, enough of the overview, let’s dive in.

Monero

Monero is currently the king of the privacy world. Why? Because its underlying technology has one of the longest track records of success and because the coin touts the largest market cap among privacy coins.

Before diving into the protocol’s mechanics, I’m going to start with a brief history as I think it provides some helpful context. However, if you feel like you have a good handle on the backstory (or just find history boring), feel free to skip ahead!

A Brief History:

Monero’s story begins in 2012 with the development of the CryptoNote protocol…