The Monero Moon (Issue 24)
The Monero Moon is a curated weekly newsletter regarding all things Monero.
August 5th 2021
Development, Releases, and Technology
Thanks to the guys at Unstoppable Swap the very first website to link up with BTC-XMR atomic swap parties is live. You can coordinate with other individuals to perform swaps back and forth using the COMIT network ASB backend, settle on an exchange rate, and then transact. Please note it is still under development. Visit unstoppableswap.net for more information.
The Monerujo android wallet team announced they are in the process of developing android-based offline wallets. This means you can use an old android device for scanning & signing transactions via Bluetooth. The online device never sees the wallet keys which are kept safely on your offline device.
Cake Wallet v4.2.4 is out now with new features such as Coin Control for BTC, Unstoppable Domains (for XMR, BTC, & LTC), and various bug fixes. Check it out at CakeWallet.com or check out this post for further information.
The recent bug in Monero’s decoy selection algorithm spotted by Justin Berman has been fixed and approved and should be merged into the main branch soon. A tweet thread regarding this issue from the official Monero Twitter can be found here.
mj-xmr provided a development report for the month of June 2021. The report is quite technical but you can still check it out here.
Cypher Stack provided an update stating they have completed the initial technical write-up draft of how multisig could be accomplished with Triptych. Check out this post for more information.
Looking for ways to contribute to a Monero project? Haveno is looking for an experienced lead designer! This is a paid position. More information can be found here.
The official GetMonero.org website has been updated. It includes one new page, a new FAQ, translations, revamps and much more. A complete run down of the update can be found here, and thanks to ErCiccione for all their hard work.
The Secret Network are continuing their XMR development and have hinted something will be revealed soon. Mirror Protocol are also working towards integrating XMR into DeFi services. Below is an infographic showing how XMR will be integrated into the Secret Network.
The ratio of XMR-BTC transactions is increasing. XMR did 10% of BTC’s transactions in the month of July, up from ~5% late last year.
Also, check out this chart showing explosive growth of Monero’s average daily transactions by quarter thanks to Febos.
Additionally, Monero Core Team member Arctic Mine pointed out that the number of Monero transactions appear to be doubling each year. See the chart below.
Finally, there has been recent speculation of a possible flooding attack on the Monero network after a temporarily large increase in the number of transactions. Check out this post for discussion regarding the issue.
General News
Blockchain analytics firm Ciphertrace was recently mentioned in a Yahoo news article stating they have released enhanced Monero tracing visualization tools for qualified government agencies and financial institutions. Dave Jevans, the CEO of CipherTrace is quoted saying in the article saying: “The availability of this enhanced Monero tracing bolsters the viability of privacy coins for the long-term, assuring regulators that exchanges, OTC desks, and other virtual asset service providers will be able to comply with global Anti-Money Laundering requirements while continuing to accept Monero transactions.”
Monero contributor Seth provided commentary on Ciphertrace’s capabilities -
Monero’s former lead maintainer Riccardo “Fluffypony” Spagni was recently arrested in the U.S. for allegations unrelated to cryptocurrency. More information can be found here and in the tweet below from Spagni’s wife.
In light of Spagni being offline and in custody, the Monero core team has removed all his admin and write permissions over Monero repos. They have also moved the 5577 XMR from the General Fund to another wallet he has no access to.
There is now a Monero radio station. XMR.radio is broadcasting live and they are looking for help. If you are a radio DJ, mixing DJ, talent scout, curator, graphic designer, voice over artist, or marketer, reach out to them via their website XMR.radio or the information in this Reddit post.
Monero Talk recently interviewed Untraceable, a Monero enthusiast and popular anonymous personality in the Monero community. Doug and Untraceable discuss Monero, Elon’s understanding of Crypto, the difference between a Monero world and a Bitcoin one, information censorship, the recent ransomware attacks, CBDC’s and how privacy doesn’t matter until it’s too late. Check it out below.
The Monero Defcon party in Las Vegas is on Aug 7th 2021 at The Nerd. The party is sponsored by Cake Wallet and tickets go on sale soon. Details can be found here.
Rainey Reitman published a response to the Cryptocurrency Surveillance Provision buried within a recent infrastructure bill. It is likely the proposed senate will increase the surveillance of cryptocurrency and its users. You can find Reitman’s commentary here on the Electronic Frontier Foundation website, and a Coindesk analysis piece here.
The European Commission has formally announced a broad crackdown on the crypto industry and a prime target will be anonymous crypto wallets. Check out this Decrypt article for a brief overview of the issue.
The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore mentioned Monero in in official guidelines for paying cryptocurrency taxes.
Wondering how ransomware negotiations take place? Check out REvil Revealed — Tracking a Ransomware Negotiation and Payment. One interesting point made in the article is that “most of the ransomware response companies that negotiate and pay on behalf of victims simply refuse to pay Monero ransoms”. This is likely due to the inability to trace Monero transactions.
ale5ole has been mining Monero in their hippie bus via solar power! Check out the video below.
Exchanges and Merchants
Coincards provided a breakdown of cryptocurrencies being used (by $ volume) by percentages in June 2021. XMR ranks 4th and is up in percentage compared to the prior month.
wheezybackports explained that kycnot.me has gone down. Kycnot.me is a website that has a list of exchanges and services for Monero that don’t require your personal information. Mirrors can be found here.
Want to buy or sell something for XMR? Head over to this thread on r/monero and browse things for sale, or sell something of your own.
ClubMonero.com held a Monero T-Shirt Giveaway. Ten Club Monero shirts were given away for free. Check out the competition details, and view the store ClubMonero.com.
You can use Simple Swap to exchange XMR to other cryptocurrencies with no registration. Check out their website here.
Community Crowdfunding System
There is one Community Crowdfunding System proposals awaiting feedback, discussion or funding. This is a proposal for open-sourcing the Monero Ocean mining pool. The proposal can be viewed here and feedback or donations are encouraged.
Trading & Speculation
There has been speculation of a Binance centered XMR liquidity crisis simmering for a while now. Monero proponents at DV Chain addressed this issue claiming it to be pure speculation, while a Monero community member posted a further response which can be found here. Additionally, Monero Talk recently interviewed the complainant to discuss his take on the issue.
There is a hero on Reddit who buys XMR on the first day of every month! Check out his post here or in the tweet below.
Performance
Total Monero in Circulation — 17,967,097 XMR
Monero Total Marketcap — $4,343,579,780
Monero Coinmarketcap Ranking — #28
XMR/USD Price — $243 USD
XMR/BTC Price — 0.00640 BTC
LocalMonero.co Street Price — $265 USD
Average Transaction Fee — 0.0001 XMR ($0.03 USD)
Hashrate — 2.604 Ghash/s
Monero Mining Pools Hashrate Distribution —
Entertainment
Apologies for the delayed issue if you have been waiting! Life gets in the way sometimes, but I endeavour to publish The Monero Moon as often as possible!
Donate
If you like the newsletter and want more of this content, then shout me a round of beers by donating some spare Monero you didn’t lose during your boating accident.
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Support Monero
Want to help contribute to the Monero Project? Developers, marketers, event coordinators, translators, Instagram personalities, meme creators, public speakers — whatever your skills may be, it is extremely likely there is something you can do to assist. I urge you to reach out to the Monero community on Reddit, IRC (double check this as the Monero channels are currently migrating to Libera.Chat), GitHub, Twitter, or Telegram.
Past Issues
Issue 23 / Issue 22 / Issue 21 / Issue 20 / Issue 19 / Issue 18 / Issue 17 / Issue 16 / Issue 15 / Issue 14 / Issue 13 / Issue 12 / Issue 11 / Issue 10 / Issue 9 / Issue 8 / Issue 7 / Issue 6 / Issue 5 / Issue 4 / Issue 3 / Issue 2 / Issue 1
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DISCLAIMER: This publication contains opinion for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Information may contain errors and omissions. Use solely at your own risk. The author of this publication and/or the authors of articles linked to from this site may have financial investments that may bias their opinions, including ownership of Monero currency. Always do your own research, form your own opinions, and never take risks with money or trust third parties with out verifying their credibility.
